Investment advice systems and methods

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides investment advice systems. One version of the present invention provides investment advice systems that allow a user to select one or more advisors from a list of investment advisors. According to this version of the invention, the end user can receive advice on a particular transaction either separately from each investment advisor or in consensus. The system offers advice in part on the user&#39;s portfolio, tax position and risk profile and in part on the advisors evaluation of current market conditions. Thus, when a user is considering making a transaction, the user can obtain advice that can take into portfolio information including a user&#39;s proposed transaction and/or user portfolio information. A user armed with the above-described customized advice can execute a specific transaction and have their portfolio updated to reflect execution of that (those) order(s). In an alternative embodiment, a user&#39;s desire to buy or sell a security and/or a need for rebalancing a user&#39;s portfolio can generate transaction(s). As a result, the system will generate a buy/sell list (including recommended alternatives) from which a user can select.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/696,762, filed on Oct. 25, 2000, and claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/161,258, filed on Oct. 25, 1999, entitled“Investment Advice System,” incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Contained herein is material that is subject to copyright protection.The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction ofthe patent disclosure by any person as it appears in the Patent andTrademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves allrights to the copyright whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to the field of investment advicesystems and more specifically to investment advice systems and methodsthat allow a user to receive advice over a network, e.g., the Internet.

In the past few years, the retail brokers and financial analystindustries have developed a number of electronic systems accessible overthe Internet to provide users, e.g., investors with investment advice.The term “user” as used herein encompasses both an individual investorand that investors representative(s) such as a financial planner. Someof the recently developed electronic systems perform mathematicalcalculations to provide advice regarding a variety of investmentdecisions, such as mortgage refinancing, loan amortization, andretirement planning.

However, these financial advice systems typically are limited in severalways. To the extent that these electronics services provide adviceregarding specific securities, the advice often does not take intoaccount information about the users portfolio in the form of the advicetends to replicate old-fashioned, broker-centric, research reportsdistributed through conventional postal mail distribution systems.

These electronic security research reports provide information on aparticular company specified by a user. The reports rarely suggestalternatives or offer different options. Further, the electronic systemsdeliver the reports in prose, which requires time. to read andcomprehend. In other words, current electronic security research reportshave drawbacks in the information they supply and in their method ofdelivery of information.

The electronic systems typically do not customize the information theyprovide in that the provided information does not take intoconsideration a user's existing portfolio or how a user's portfoliocompares to various market measures in terms of risk and reward. Theseelectronic systems do not inform a user how a proposed transaction willimpact the user's portfolio in terms of metrics that characterize theuser's portfolio. Furthermore, such information is not provided when theuser is deciding whether to go forward with a transaction, nor is itdelivered in an immediately comprehensible form. Instead, the user mustread the report(s), remember the information and, in one manner oranother, contact his or her broker to go forward with the transaction.Further, many of these systems are not accessible by many users.

In other words, there are at least the following three drawbacks toexisting financial advice systems: 1) only a fraction of investors arereceiving investment advice; 2) those currently receiving investmentadvice receive advice that is incomplete, inconsistent and/or nottimely; and 3) mutual funds and broker/planners are often not integratedinto the advice system so as to increase productivity and distributionof advice. With respect to the first point, financial institutionscurrently provide advice almost exclusively to high net worthhouseholds, e.g., households with assets of over five million U.S.dollars. However, households with assets of between one hundred thousandand five million U.S. dollars have recently become more active ininvesting and in managing their wealth.

With respect to the second point, i.e., not receiving complete,consistent and timely advice, mutual funds charge a management fee andare managed without regard to tax consequences. Brokers or financialplanners often know only a portion of products available and sometimesgive inconsistent advice. Further, online financial services andproducts tend to be security specific and do not take into account theuser's portfolio or tax position as noted above.

With respect to the third point, Forrester Research in “OverhaulingFinancial Advice” February 2000, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, estimates that approximately twenty million households willuse automated online advice solution by 2005. Thus, mutual funds andbrokers/planners require productivity tools to facilitate handlinglarger client bases and to provide better services and new services.

Thus, the financial services community needs a system that allows a userto interactively explore the impact that one or more proposedtransactions would have on the user's financial account. The systemshould provide advice to the user based at least in part on the user'sspecification as to his preferred risk/reward balance. The system shouldprovide the user with the ability to obtain a variety of informationincluding: 1) the impact that the transactions would have on therisk/reward balance of the user's portfolio; 2) the impact on thequality of stocks held in the user's portfolio as determined byadvisors, either separately or combined; 3) the forecast for the stocksinvolved in the proposed transaction as determined by advisors, eitherseparately or combined; 4) and/or the tax implications of the proposedtransaction(s).

Expanding on the last point, a need exists for a system that providesadvice on a proposed transaction based at least in part on the taxconsequences of that transaction. For example, a system is needed thatadvises against realizing gains by selling a position in a security thatwould soon qualify for long-term capital gains status.

Thus, a need remains for an investment advice system that providesclear, easy-to-comprehend advice, customized to the user as to thatuser's portfolio holdings, tax position and risk profile at the time theuser is reviewing his/her portfolio and/or considering making atransaction. In other words, a need exists for an investment advicesystem that provides effective advice at the point of sale, i.e., whenthe user is capable of making a financial transaction.

Further, a need exists for an investment advice system that allows auser access to more than one opinion on a particular potential securitytransaction. A need exists for a system that allows a user to selectadvisors from a group of advisors. In addition, a need exists for aninvestment advice system that allows a user to obtain a consensus, i.e.,the pooled or combined opinions of more than one advisor, on a proposedtransaction or on the condition of the user's portfolio.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides systems and methods for providinginvestment advice. The systems and methods of the present invention areparticularly suited to network-based investment advice services thatprovide investment advice and manage securities portfolios for clients,such as individual investors or financial planners, over a computernetwork, such as the Internet.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a system forimplementing an investment advice service may include a server computerhosting an investment advice service accessible via client computers toa plurality of clients and a database operably coupled to the servercomputer. The database may identify a plurality of securities portfoliosand may maintain portfolio information associated with the securityportfolios. The investment advice service preferably includes a userinterface including controls whereby a client can access portfolioinformation concerning a securities portfolio identified by thedatabase. The investment advice service is preferably available via acomputer network to assist a client in managing a securities portfolioidentified by the database. The investment advice service may include atrade advisor component hosted by the server computer and operativelycoupled to the database to receive portfolio information for asecurities portfolio of the client. The trade advisor component mayinclude an asset allocator component operable to compare the portfolioinformation received by the trade advisor component with a benchmarkportfolio for the securities portfolio. The trade advisor componentpreferably proposes securities transactions to the client at least inpart based on the comparison by the asset allocator of the portfolioinformation with the benchmark.

The terms “client” and “clients” as used herein may refer to anindividual investor, a financial planner or financial institution thatmay manage one or more securities portfolios, or any other person,business, or entity that may transact with an investment advice systemto receive investment advice and/or portfolio management services.

In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, theinvestment advice service may include a security ranking aggregatorcomponent hosted by a server computer and operably coupled to the tradeadvisor component. The security ranking aggregator may be operative toreceive security ratings for securities from of a plurality of securityanalysts and to aggregate the security ratings for each security onto auniform ranking scale. The trade advisor component preferably proposessecurities transactions to the client at least in part based on therankings of securities provided by the security ranking aggregatorcomponent.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, theportfolio information maintained by the database may include tax lotinformation for the portfolios identified by the database. Preferably,the trade advisor component is operative to receive the tax lotinformation for a securities portfolio of a client and to proposesecurities transactions for the securities portfolio at least in partbased on the tax lot information for the securities portfolio.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, theinvestment advice service may include a broker connection aggregatorhosted by a server computer and operably connected to the trade advisorcomponent. The broker connection aggregator preferably has a brokerinterface for communicating with a plurality of brokers over thecomputer network. The broker interface allows a client to executesecurities transactions with one of the plurality of brokers through theinvestment advice service.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, theinvestment advice service includes a portfolio tracker component hostedby a server computer and operably coupled to the database. The portfoliotracker component preferably has a portfolio interface for receivingportfolio information concerning a securities portfolio from a clientand is preferably operative to interface with the database to maintainthe portfolio information in a securities portfolio identified by thedatabase. The portfolio tracker component is preferably operative toestablish a benchmark for a portfolio of a client based on riskinformation received from the client.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the assetallocator may include a risk ranking component operative to compare theportfolio information received by the trade advisor component with thebenchmark to provide a risk rating for the securities portfolio.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, acomputer-implemented method for providing investment advice to a clientover a computer network includes providing access over a computernetwork to a database maintaining portfolio information for a pluralityof securities portfolios and managing a securities portfolio identifiedby the database for a client. The securities portfolio may be managed byrequesting portfolio information for the securities portfolio from thedatabase, comparing the portfolio information to a benchmark for thesecurities portfolio, and proposing securities transactions to theclient based at least in part on the comparison of the portfolioinformation with the benchmark for the securities portfolio.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, thecomputer-implemented method may include collecting security rankings fora security from a plurality of security analysts and aggregating thesecurity rankings for the security onto a uniform ranking scale. Thesecurity rankings are preferably normalized to a set of integer values.Securities transactions may be proposed to the client based at least inpart on the uniform ranking of the securities.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the computerimplemented method may include requesting tax lot information from thedatabase for the portfolio and proposing securities transactions to theclient based at least in part on the tax lot information for thesecurities portfolio.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, thecomputer implemented method may include providing a broker connection toa plurality of brokers over the computer network and allowing a clientto execute securities transactions, through the broker connection, forsecurities portfolios identified by the database.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the computerimplemented method may include receiving portfolio information for asecurities portfolio from a client and storing the portfolio informationfor the securities portfolio in the database.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, thecomputer implemented method includes requesting risk information for aclient for a portfolio identified by the database and establishing abenchmark for the portfolio based on the risk information.

The method for providing investment advice to a client over a computernetwork can be implemented as a set of processing instructions, storedin a computer readable storage medium, for executing the steps of themethod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. Likereference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a deployment view of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a business use case diagram for the investment advice systemof FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is a general use case diagram for the investment advice systemembodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is a sequence diagram for one embodiment of the raise cashscenario of the invest use case of FIG. 2B.

FIG. 3B is a sequence diagram for one embodiment of the spend cashscenario of the invest use case of FIG. 2B.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the system layers for the investmentadvice system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the data flow between the dynamicportfolio risk computations performed by the asset allocator of FIG. 2B.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the data flow of portfolio informationto and from the investment advice system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the breakdown of a portfolio intotax-lots for use by the investment advice system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8A-8H are diagrams illustrating the long and medium terminformation used by the investment advice system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a system map for one embodiment of the investment advicesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 shows one embodiment of the “my accounts” screen of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows one embodiment of the “search accounts” screen of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of the “account detail” screen of FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 shows a different setting of the “account detail” screen of FIG.11.

FIG. 14 shows one embodiment of the “trade execution results” screen ofFIG. 9.

FIG. 15 shows one embodiment of the “trade templates” screen of FIG. 9.

FIG. 16 shows one embodiment of the “trade station” screen of FIG. 9.

FIGS. 17A-17C illustrate three configurations for applying embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 18 shows another embodiment of a system map for the investmentadvice system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a computer system for implementingone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of illustrating the generation of abenchmark for a securities account.

The figures depict embodiments of the invention for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

To achieve the goal of providing point-of-sale advice the inventionencapsulates client risk information with the concept of a BenchmarkPortfolio. Clients can chose to use benchmarks such as the S&P500 or theWilshire 5000. In one embodiment, a client can also establish acustomized benchmark that meets the client's risk/return objectives. Thesystem then compares client portfolios against the selected standard interms of diversification, factor exposure, the value-weighted averageranking and performance. A client portfolio generally consists ofapproximately 20 securities or more, selected from among the bestsecurities as ranked by the advisor(s) picked by, or for, the client,bearing in mind the client's current holdings and tax position.

Regarding Expert Advise

In one embodiment, the invention presents stock recommendations frommultiple sources. Each source supplies recommendations about futurestock returns on a wide universe of stocks. The recommendations areinformation consistent with one another and are updated frequently. Incontrast, currently available recommendations apply to a small number ofstocks, are not designed to be information consistent with one another,and are updated sporadically. Setting standards for the recommendationsand maintaining those standards improves the usefulness of the system.The system can monitor the performance of the recommendations inforecasting stock returns and can report the performance to users of thesystem.

In another embodiment, the system processes the recommendations fromeach source such that the recommendations contain the maximum amount ofusable information. The system standardizes the recommendations to aninteger ranking system, e.g., from 5 to −5, where 5 is best and −5 isworst. The system performs the standardization by normalizing therecommendations to a unit normal distribution and then creating rangesof values, which are mapped into ranking categories. If therecommendations include only limited categories (such as strong buy, buyand hold), then appropriate ranking ranges are created for them.

In yet another embodiment, the invention combines the rankings frommultiple sources, such that the combined ranking contains the mostusable information. The system uses estimates of the correlation ofrankings from different sources and correlations of each set of rankingswith future returns The system directly estimates the correlationsbetween sets of factors. The system also estimates the correlations ofeach factor set with future returns. However, because these estimatesare typically unstable, the system provides estimates of thesecorrelations (which can be over-ridden by the investor). The system thendetermines the optimal weighting scheme on each factor set.Specifically, the system minimizes the weighted variance of the factorsand actual returns. In one embodiment, the system can impose somerestrictions on individual factor weights (for example, requiring thatthe factor weights each take positive values). Stephen Figlewski andThomas Urich discuss the aggregation of forecasts in “OptimalAggregation of Money Supply Forecasts: Accuracy, Profitability, andMarket Efficiency”, Journal of Finance, 28; 3, Jun. 1983, 695-710,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In the case of stocks with rankings from only one or two sources, thesystem revises the recommendation weights in creating the combinedrankings. The system transforms the weights after the optimizationprocess so that the weights add up to 1. The system creates combinedrankings by multiplying each set of rankings by its weight and thenrounding the weighted rankings to the nearest integer, e.g., between 5and −5.

In still another embodiment, the investor can over-ride or ignoreparticular rankings in order to best capture her views of future stockperformance. She can also supply a ranking, which overrides all otherrankings and becomes her combined ranking for the stock. The system canretain the investor's over-rides subject to investor revisions in thefuture.

Thus, the system provides the user advice on a large number of stocks,which she can apply in managing her portfolio and in evaluating her listof potential purchases. Stocks highly recommended by analysts generallyoutperform the market over the long term. Similarly stocks that areunfavorably recommended by analysts generally under perform the marketover the long term. Brad Barber, Reuvan Lehavy, Maureen McNichols, andBrett Trueman in “Can Investors Profit from the Prophets? SecurityAnalyst Recommendations and Stock Returns”,http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/˜bmbarber/Prophets_(—)9-99.pdf incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety, indicate that strategies ofpurchasing the stocks with the most favorable consensus (combined)recommendations or selling short the stocks with the least favorablerecommendations produced an annual abnormal gross return of more thanabout four percent. An embodiment of a system according to the inventionpresents valuable advice to an individual investor who is preparing tomake a transaction by providing a consensus of selected advisors or,alternatively, by providing a consensus of all available advisors.

Another benefit to the user is that she can use the rankings to compareindividual stocks and compare the average ranking of her currentportfolio to a portfolio after trades or to a benchmark portfolio (suchas the S&P 500). Still another benefit is that she can over-riderankings on particular stocks, when she chooses to rely on her own viewsor opinions from other sources.

Regarding Portfolio Risk Estimates

Another version of the system calculates and reports risk estimates forindividual stocks and for portfolios. The system provides risk estimatesthat comply with the views of many investors concerning portfolio risk.

In one embodiment, the underlying risk model takes into account commonfactors, sector exposure and individual stock exposure. The system keepsthe common factors to a short list (Price/Earnings, Price/Book, Roe,Capitalization, Market Risk). Many investors can interpret these commonfactors, each of which impacts portfolio returns. The sensitivity ofindividual companies to each factor depends on stock characteristicswith which investors are familiar. The system defines sectors quitebroadly and the system communicates the broad sector definitions throughits on-screen displays, e.g., through a display of a portfolioassociated with an account as shown in FIG. 12.

The system estimates factor covariances with one another by runningmultiple regressions of weekly stock returns versus their factor values.The system interprets the coefficients on each factor as the returnsfrom the factor in each week. The system takes the residuals, whichrepresent stock returns, from these regression equations and calculatesthe average return for each sector (based on capitalization weights).Finally, the system calculates the residual returns of individual stocksby deducting each stock's factor and sector returns from its totalreturn. From these residuals, the system estimates a residual standarddeviation. The system can translate all risk measures into annual terms.

In another embodiment, the system calculates portfolio risk measuresthat are useful to an investor and that a typical investor canunderstand. The system provides an average risk ranking for stocks inthe portfolio. The system also provides a traditional measure of risk,i.e., the standard deviation of return over a specified time period,e.g., over a year. The system separates this risk into components:exposure to common factors, sector exposures and individual stockconcentration.

In addition, the system provides two measures of risk, which address theportfolio's potential to lose money. The first measure is Value at Risk(VaR), which is a threshold measure of the minimum amount of what aninvestor might lose in a very bad market. The second measure is Expected(Large) Loss, which is a measure of how much an investor should expectto lose in a bad market. The system estimates both measures based on therisk of the portfolio with adjustments for the fact that portfolioreturns have thick tails. Specifically, in one embodiment, the systemtakes the estimated standard deviation of the portfolio return (whichassumes a normal distribution of stock returns) and transforms it to at-distribution with pre-determined degrees of freedom and a similarlyscaled standard deviation. The system then performs the VaR and Expected(Large) loss calculations conditional on the t-distribution. In thisway, investors benefit from more accurate estimates of the potential forlosing money.

In still another embodiment, the system calculates and translatesmarginal risk estimates for individual stocks into rankings (scaledappropriately versus the rankings based on recommendations). The systemshows an investor whether a stock is risky in the context of herportfolio and what the source of risk is—from factor exposure, sectorexposure or concentration in the particular stock.

These stock calculations follow similar partitions to that employed forthe portfolio risk measures. The system can present the stockcalculations both in terms of variance (traditional risk measures) andin terms of rankings (scaled appropriately versus the return rankings).In particular, the system transforms the risk estimates into rankings ina procedure similar to that of transforming individual rankings. Thescaling of the rankings depends on the risk levels and the investor'saversion to risk.

The investor can use these marginal risk rankings to evaluate the riskof different stocks in the context of her portfolio. The system can alsouse these rankings in making suggestions to the investor about potentialpurchases and sales.

The investor benefits from receiving simple and intuitive riskestimates, which are scaled in proportion to the return rankings. Theinvestor can follow the recommendations of the portfolio analyzer toreduce risk because the risk estimations for individual stocks areplausible. The system allows the investor to understand the potentialfor loss in her portfolio and more appropriately position the portfolioto a risk level with which she is comfortable.

Regarding the Suggest/Respond Portfolio Rebalancing Environment

The system allows an investor to interact with the system to adjust thepositions in her portfolio. One embodiment of the system suggestspotential purchases and sales, which change based on an investor'strades and on investor changes in return rankings. The system alsoresponds to trades suggested by the investor.

When the investor opens up her portfolio in the system, she receivessuggestions for trades in particular sectors. Motivations forsuggestions include changes in advisor return rankings, changes in taxconsequences and changes in risk rankings. Each suggested trade has asize associated with it as well as alternative trades. The system allowsan investor to review the rankings and over-ride the rankings.Over-riding the rankings causes the system to change its recommendedactions.

In addition, the investor can suggest certain securities to be ptraded.The system provides return and risk rankings (and the tax consequencesif the trade involves a sale of a security held in the portfolio). Withthe return ranking, the system can recommend a purchase or sale of aparticular size. The investor can initiate a trade, which the systemdoes not recommend resulting in a response by the system about thetrade's suitability.

The system provides investors with suggestions of exactly how much topurchase or sell of individual stocks. In addition, the system providesalternative suggestions of stocks to buy and sell with recommendedpurchase amounts.

Tax Management Features of the Site

In another embodiment of a system according to the invention, the systemidentifies all sales (above threshold which the investor can define)resulting in realized losses (and tax savings). The system provides theinvestor with an opportunity to review these trades and accept them as agroup or individually. The system also accepts user-defined thresholdsfor not proposing the sale of stocks (with high unrealized gains). Forstocks with moderate unrealized taxable gains and losses (fallingneither in a “must sell” or a “never sell” category, the system createsa properly scaled tax rating (consistent with the return and riskrankings), which the system uses when it is either suggesting sales orresponds to user suggestions.

System Architecture

One medium for expressing the system architecture of the presentinvention is the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The systemarchitecture utilizes various elements of the Unified Process andexpresses the architecture using UML. Based on the Unified Process, thefollowing different and interlocking views model the systemarchitecture.

Deployment View

The deployment view of a system encompasses the nodes that form thesystem's hardware topology, upon which the system executes. This viewprimarily addresses the distribution, delivery, and installation of theparts that make up the physical system. The system architecture utilizesa combination of Deployment and Component diagrams to illustrate wherethe system executes various packages and to define the underlyingnetwork topology requirements.

Use Case View

The system architecture is use-case driven, placing an emphasis on howone uses the system. The medium to communicate the Use Case View is UseCase Diagrams and Use Case Cards. The Use Case View overlaps all otherviews because each view begins with an analysis of Use Cases.

Design View

The design view of a system encompasses the classes, interfaces, andcollaborations that form the vocabulary of the problem and its solution.This view primarily supports the functional requirements of the system,meaning the services that the system should provide to its users. Thesystem architecture utilizes Class Diagrams,Class-Responsibility-Collaboration Cards (CRC Cards) to express classrelationships and interface definitions. Where appropriate, a developercan develop similar Class Diagrams using a Visual Modeling tool such asMicrosoft Visual Modeler or Rose 2000.

Process View

The process view of a system encompasses the threads and processes thatform the system's concurrency and synchronization mechanisms. This viewprimarily addresses the performance, scalability, and throughput of thesystem. The system architecture utilizes Sequence Diagrams andCollaboration Diagrams in modeling interactions between multipleclasses. The system architecture uses State Diagrams when modeling statetransitions on single classes.

Component View

The component view of a system encompasses the components that compriseone embodiment of the physical system. This view primarily addresses theconfiguration management of the system's releases, made up of somewhatindependent components that one can assemble in various ways to producea running system. The system architecture utilizes a combination ofDeployment and Component diagrams to illustrate where variousinterchangeable components can be plugged into the system to deliverunique solutions.

Having described different views that can model the system architecture,one version of a deployment diagram of an investment advice systemaccording to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The majority of theapplication can run remotely from a client 30, 32, 34 as depicted by thedotted line 80 surrounding the server computers 38, 44, 48, 56, 62, 64,68. The client technology used to access the application can range froma thin client, e.g., a generic hypertext markup language (HTML) browser30, to a rich client, e.g., a full functioning Windows Desktopapplication 32 or other legacy application.

A browser client 30 can access the system via the hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) over a network, for example, a public Wide Area Network(WAN) such as the Internet. Thus, in one embodiment, the browser clients30 and the load balancer are each connected to a WAN and can communicateover the WAN. As a result, browser clients 30 connect to at least partof the application 76 through a Load Balancing Server 36, which routesrequests to one of many servers such as Microsoft Windows 2000 Servers38 running Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) available fromMicrosoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

According to the illustrated embodiment, ActiveX Server Pages (ASP) ofIIS 42 generate HTML web pages. ASP pages contain scripts, which willtransform information from the COM+ middle tier 40 into HTML by combingeXtended Style sheet Language (XSL) and data contained in eXtendedMarkup Language (XML) streams. COM+ 40, an extension of Component ObjectModel, is both an object-oriented programming architecture and a set ofoperating system services.

The HTML pages and user requests interact directly with various softwarecomponents, which are running on the server inside of a COM+ application40. These components include the Portfolio Tracker 172, the User Manager148, the Trade Station 180, and the Shared Resources Manager 234. Thesecomponents accept and validate user requests, passing along requests tothe Application Service Provider Components (ASPC). In this embodiment,the ASPCs are also running within COM+, but user requests do not accessthe ASPCs directly. The components include the Security RankingAggregator 238, the Risk/Trade Advisor 236 and the Broker ConnectionAggregator 240. These components access the database through a set ofData Access Library routines 244, which are also part of the COM+application 40.

An alternative to a Browser client 30 is a more highly functioningDesktop application 32. A typical desktop application possesses moreprocessing intelligence than a Browser and therefore will provide itsown user interface. This type of application is generally limited tomaking information and transaction processing requests and generallydoes not use HTML streams. The protocol for making such requests andreturning results is called the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP).SOAP uses the underlying HTTP transport to package requests into XMLstreams and call methods on a Server. SOAP requests take a more directpath to the ASPC services than do browser requests. The called serverreturns results of the request to the calling application via XML.

In a third embodiment, user system 34 can connect to at least part ofthe application 78 using a distributed COM or DCOM protocol which iscapable of working with the ASPC services remotely. DCOM allows theclient 34 to connect to a running instance of a software component thatexists on another platform. System designers typically use this methodof communication in a scenario where the designers know the client welland the client requires a higher degree of performance and integration.System designers use this scenario, for example, for business customerswho want to use only a portion of the ASPC services. For example, alikely scenario would be for a business customer to use the SecurityRanking Aggregator 238 service and nothing else. Requests come directlyfrom the client's legacy application 34 and drive the component usingDCOM. Each of the ASPC components 236, 238, 240 are capable of beingused individually. Deploying a server 44, which accommodates thisscenario does not require IIS or ASP and, as illustrated, does not useload balancing. This server can be housed in a variety of location suchas in a data center or on a customer site.

There are several other external interfaces to the system 80 in additionto the interface(s) to clients, e.g., clients 30, 32, 34. The BrokerConnection Aggregator component 240 communicates with Brokers 104 inorder to pass orders and monitor execution. A separate server 48connects with Brokers 104. This platform runs a trading engine 50, whichin one embodiment communicates with several brokers 104 concurrently.This embodiment of the trading engine 50 can communicated usingdifferent protocols. Some of the common industry protocols that thetrading engine 50 can support include FIX, OFX and FIXML. If a broker104 does not support an electronic interface, the system can use amanual interface to communicate with the broker. For example, the systemor an operator associated with the system can use the telephone tocommunicate with traders at the Brokers trading desk. The BrokerConnection Aggregator 240 can communicate with the Fix Trading Engine 50using message management software such as Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ)available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. MSMQ is asoftware service, which allows requests to a server to be queued whilethe requested application on the server continues processing. As the FixTrading Engine 50 receives notifications back from the Broker 104, MSMQcan be used again to send messages back to the Broker ConnectionAggregator 240.

Other external interfaces deal with the collection of data. The system80 can collect Security Ratings data from vendors, for example, over aprivate network connection and can load the data into database 58,typically after the data is scrubbed and normalized. Similarly, thesystem 80 can collect, validate, and store historical price data,reference data and current market data in database 58 for use in thestatic and dynamic risk calculations described below.

In one embodiment, the database tier 58 is implemented on a standardquery language (SQL) server such as Microsoft SQL Server 2000 availablefrom Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. The database tier 58 makesuse of a Cluster Service to provide failover support. The clusterservice includes a clustering server 60, standard query language (SQL)servers 62, 64 and databases 66. Data mining is carried out on anotherserver 56, which extracts information from the production database andcreates reports for performance tracking 52 and billing 54.

As will be clear to those of skill in the art, a system according to theinvention can take a variety of forms and can serve a variety ofclients. Thus, the system illustrated in FIG. 1 is illustrative and notlimiting, resort to the claims being necessary to determine theinventive subject matter.

Business Use Case Analysis

The use-case view of a system encompasses the use cases that describethe behavior of the system as seen by its users. In the Business UseCase Model each business use case represents a business process,described from an “external” viewpoint. The Business Use-Case Analysisshown in FIG. 2A illustrates the major business Use Cases and identifiesthe major Actors. Actors are entities, either people or other systemssuch as software agents, which drive the system in an effort to achievea specific goal. In addition, the business use cases outline specificscenarios that identify intermediate players and sub-goals.

Based on the Use Case Diagram of FIG. 2A, there are six major Actors(either people or systems) that have responsibilities to carry out theprimary Use Case, which is ‘Invest’. Apart from the ‘Investor’ all otheractors are responsible for subordinate Use Cases. In other words, all ofthe Use Cases, except for ‘Invest’, are ways in which the other Actorsaccomplish the goal of the ‘Investor’. The Actors are:

Investor 108

This actor is an end-customer. This actor is not necessarily the user ofthe system, but is serviced by the system through the portfolio manager.

Portfolio Manager 114

In one embodiment, the portfolio manager 114 is the primary user. One ofthe portfolio manager's goals is to maximize the return on her portfolioaccounts by intelligently selecting trades that adjust the risk rankingsof the portfolios. A secondary goal for this actor is to maximize thenumber of portfolios under her control subject to the constraint ofproviding a high level of service to her customers, individualinvestors. In another embodiment, the Portfolio Manager 114 and theInvestor 108 are the same.

Accounting System 116

The accounting system 116 updates the accounts for the investor 108 toensure proper recording of transactions pertaining to the investor'sactivities including individual trades and corporate actions such asstock splits.

Asset Allocator 118

The asset allocator 118 makes trade suggestions based on a risk andreturn analysis of an investor's portfolio. A goal of this actor is toprovide the Portfolio Manager 114 with a list of trades that improve theInvestor's Portfolio in terms of its combined ranking.

Security Analyst 120

The security analyst 120 analyzes a universe of securities and providesa rating on each security, which can then be used to provide suggestionsas well as alternatives to the Portfolio Manager 114.

Trader 104

The Trader 104 is responsible for sending trades to the broker (shown inFIG. 2A), deciding limit prices, if any, and monitoring executions fromthe broker. One goal for the trader is to execute the PortfolioManager's Trades and notify the Portfolio Manager 114 when the traderhas executed or attempted to execute all trades.

The system can use the following three scenarios to implement the“Invest” Use Case:

Raise Cash

Spend Cash

Rebalance

Raise Cash

This scenario involves specifying an amount of cash for the system toraise by selling portfolio holdings. The asset allocator 118 provides alist of suggestions by combining information from analyzing the risk ofthe portfolio and from analyzing the Security Analyst ratings of heldsecurities. The asset allocator 118 can tailor sell recommendations tomitigate capital gains taxes. Thus, if a particular security that is thesubject of a proposed trade is close to qualifying for long-term capitalgains treatment, the asset allocator 118 can take that information intoaccount in advising the client regarding the sale of that security.Similarly, the asset allocator 118 can recommend the sale of a poorlyperforming security and the purchase of a promising security in the samesector to obtain favorable tax treatment while maintaining portfoliodiversity.

Spend Cash

This scenario involves specifying an amount of cash for an investor tospend buying securities. The asset allocator 118 provides a list ofsuggestions by combining information from analyzing the risk of theportfolio and from analyzing the Security Analyst ratings of securitiesboth held by the portfolio and not held by the portfolio. Buyrecommendations typically spread portfolio risk over several BenchmarkCategories such as Industry/Sector.

Rebalance

This scenario relies on the asset allocator 118 to provide a list of buyand sell recommendations that improve the investor's overall portfoliocombined ranking. The asset allocator 118 calculates a trade list bycombining information from analyzing the risk of the portfolio and fromanalyzing the Security Analyst ratings of securities held by theportfolio and not held by the portfolio. As in the raise cash scenario,sell recommendations can be tailored to mitigate capital gains taxes. Asin the spend cash scenario, buy recommendations typically spreadportfolio risk over several Benchmark Categories such asIndustry/Sector.

The following use case cards describe various use cases:

Use Case: Invest 122

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Individual investor decides to invest cash intoportfolio in hopes of earning a high return on investment whileminimizing transaction costs, taxes and risk.

Scope: Analysis

Preconditions: Investor has account with Portfolio Manager. Investor hasa Brokerage account.

Primary Actor: Investor.

Trigger: Investor deposits cash into account.

Main Success Scenario

1. Investor deposits cash into portfolio account.

2. Portfolio Manager purchases securities on behalf of investor based onthe advice of the Asset Allocator and based insecurity Analystsuggestions (Spend Cash Scenario)

Extensions

1a. Investor wants to raise cash via selling existing holdings (RaiseCash Scenario)

1a1. Portfolio Manager sells out losing position to raise specificamount of cash on the advice of the Asset Allocator and Security Analystsuggestions.

1b. Investor wants to lower overall portfolio risk by intelligentlydiversifying holdings (Rebalance Scenario)

1b1. Portfolio Manager suggests sells to close out losing position andbuys to establish positions in Benchmark Categories that reduce overallportfolio risk based on the advice of the Asset Allocator and based onSecurity Analyst suggestions.

Sub-Variations

2. Portfolio Manager may sell holdings based on recommendations fromAsset Allocator and Security Analyst

Recommendations may be based on return on investment or tax consequences

2. Portfolio Manager may Buy Securities from a list of suggestedalternates ranked by Security Analyst within a Benchmark Category.

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: On Demand

Channel to primary actor: may be phone or electronic

Secondary Actors: Portfolio Manager, Asset Allocator, Security Analyst,Trader

Use Case: Manage Portfolios 124

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Maximize account return by executing trades whichadjust risk rating.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions:

Success End Condition: Portfolio in balance and earning a high returnfor customer.

Failed End Condition: Portfolio not in balance and exposing customer toexcessive risk.

Primary Actor: Portfolio Manager.

Trigger: Investor wishes to establish a position in a specific security,Investor wishes to liquidate a position, Investor wishes to mitigate taxconsequences.

Main Success Scenario

1. Portfolio Manager requests Trade List from Asset Allocator.

2. Portfolio Manager selects Order from Trade List to build and OrderList.

3. Portfolio Manager sends Order List to Trader to be executed.

4. Portfolio Manager listens for status on Order List and schedules arebalance.

5. Portfolio Manager receives updated portfolio from Accounting System.

Extensions

1a. Portfolio Manager manually enters trades.

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Invest

Subordinate Use Cases: Execute Trades, Suggest Trades, Provide AccountInformation

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Trader, Accounting System, Security Analyst,Accounting System.

Channels to Secondary Actors: Electronic

Use Case: Maintain Accounts 130

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Maintain the current balance of the portfolio bytracking and storing detail transactions.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions: Customer has valid account in accounting system.

Success End Condition: Portfolio balance accurate at all times.

Failed End Condition: Portfolio not in balance.

Primary Actor: Accounting System.

Trigger: Activity on portfolio such as executed Orders.

Main Success Scenario

1. Broker reports all executed transactions to Portfolio AccountingSystem.

2. Accounting System locates correct account and applies transactions.

Extensions

1. User will manually enter portfolio balances into Accounting System

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Provide Accounting Information

Subordinate Use Cases:

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Broker

Channels to Secondary Actors: electronic

Use Case: Account for Corporate Actions 132

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Update portfolio information based on Corporate Actionssuch as Stock Splits and Stock Dividends.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions: Customer has valid account in accounting system.

Success End Condition: Corporate actions such as stock splits areapplied to customer accounts.

Failed End Condition: Portfolio not in balance.

Primary Actor: Accounting System.

Trigger: Corporate action such as stock split.

Main Success Scenario

1. Corporation announces stock split for a specific Security.

2. Accounting System identifies all Accounts holding the Security.

3. All accounts containing that Security are updated accordingly.

Extensions

2a. Portfolio Manager locates Account in Accounting System manually.

3a. Portfolio Manager updates Accounts manually.

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Provide Account Information

Subordinate Use Cases:

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Broker

Channels to Secondary Actors: electronic

Use Case: Provide Account Information 126

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Make available account and portfolio information toPortfolio Manager.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions: Customer has valid account in accounting system.

Success End Condition: Accurate account and portfolio information madeavailable.

Failed End Condition: In-accurate account and portfolio information madeavailable.

Primary Actor: Accounting System.

Trigger: Portfolio Manager needs to provide accurate Portfolio Holdingsto Asset Allocator.

Main Success Scenario

1. Accounting System makes Investor account to Portfolio Manager.

2. Portfolio Manager stores a copy of the Portfolio.

Extensions

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Manage Portfolios

Subordinate Use Cases: Maintain Accounts, Account for Corporate Actions

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Investor, Portfolio Manager, Portfolio

Channels to Secondary Actors: electronic

Use Case: Analyze Risk 134

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Identify the risk characteristic of a Portfolio

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions:

Success End Condition: Risk rank all Holdings in a Portfolio andidentify a summary Portfolio Risk Ranking.

Failed End Condition:

Primary Actor: Asset Allocator

Trigger: One of the three scenarios of the Invest Use Case (Raise Cash,Spend Cash, Rebalance)

Main Success Scenario

1. Identify the risk for the Benchmark Categories used by a portfolio'sBenchmark. Benchmark contains the relative proportion of securityvaluation across various Benchmark categories such as Industry/Sector.

2. Identify individual Holding residual risk.

3. Identify Security Analyst Rating of individual holdings.

4. Combine risk rankings and security ratings for each holding.

5. Assign overall Portfolio Risk Ranking.

Extensions

Sub-Variations

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: RealTime

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Suggest Trades

Subordinate Use Cases:

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors:

Channels to Secondary Actors:

Use Case: Analyze Securities 136

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Rate all Securities in the universe of Securities underconsideration.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions:

Success End Condition: All Securities have a normalized rating.

Failed End Condition:

Primary Actor: Security Advisor

Trigger: One of the three scenarios of the Invest Use Case (Raise Cash,Spend Cash, Rebalance)

Main Success Scenario

1. Security Analyst assembles list of all securities and applies arating based on expected return.

Extensions

1a. Ratings could be based on other criteria and can be calculated inany way.

Sub-Variations

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: RealTime

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Suggest Trades

Subordinate Use Cases:

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Security

Channels to Secondary Actors: Electronic

Use Case: Suggest Trades 128

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Asset Allocator creates a Trade List containing anumber of suggested Trades. Suggestions are based on a combination ofRisk Ranking and Security Ratings.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions:

Success End Condition:

Failed End Condition:

Primary Actor: Asset Allocator

Trigger: One of the three scenarios of the Invest Use Case (Raise Cash,Spend Cash, Rebalance)

Main Success Scenario

1. Asset Allocator assembles a list of suggested Trades based on thespecific Invest Scenario.

Extensions

1a. For the Raise Cash scenario, the Asset Allocator would suggestselling the lowest rated securities, which will reduce the overallPortfolio risk.

1b. For the Spend Cash scenario, the Asset Allocator would suggestbuying highly rated securities, which will also improve the Portfolio'soverall risk.

1c. For the Rebalance scenario, the Asset Allocator would suggestselling lower rated securities and buying higher rated securities whileimproving overall portfolio risk.

Sub-Variations

1a. The Raise Cash and Rebalance scenarios may also use a tax harvestingcriteria for selecting which Holdings to sell.

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: RealTime

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Manage Portfolios

Subordinate Use Cases: Analyze Risk, Analyze Securities

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Portfolio Manager, Holding, Portfolio

Channels to Secondary Actors: Electronic

Use Case: Execute Orders 138

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Trader accepts the Order List from the PortfolioManager and submits the Orders to a Broker for execution.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions: Investor has account with Broker.

Success End Condition: Trades completed and status returned to PortfolioManager.

Failed End Condition:

Primary Actor: Trader

Trigger: Portfolio Manager signals to the Trader to execute the Ordersin the Order List.

Main Success Scenario

1. Trader receives Order list from Portfolio Manager.

2. Trader possibly sets limit prices.

3. Trader submits Order List to broker.

4. Trader receives Order execution or cancellation and passes statusback to Portfolio Manager.

Extensions

Sub-Variations

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: Within same day

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Manage Portfolios

Subordinate Use Cases:

Channel to primary actor: may be phone or electronic

Secondary Actors: Portfolio Manager, Broker, Accounting System.

Channels to Secondary Actors: may be phone or electronic

Use Case: Analyze Tax Lots 140

Characteristic Information

Goal in Context: Minimize the tax consequences of captial gainsassociated with selling a holding.

Scope:

Level: Summary

Preconditions:

Success End Condition: Tax lots with lowest returns are suggested to besold first.

Failed End Condition:

Primary Actor: Tax Advisor

Trigger: One of the three scenarios of the Invest Use Case (Raise Cash,Spend Cash, Rebalance)

Main Success Scenario

1. Sell suggestions consist of specific tax lots which will help reducethe overall tax burden.

Related Information

Priority: high

Performance Target: RealTime

Frequency: Varied

Superordinate Use Case: Suggest Trades

Channel to primary actor: electronic

Secondary Actors: Channels to Secondary Actors: Electronic

The detail use case diagram of FIG. 2B is a multi-level diagram thatelaborates on the business use case diagram of FIG. 2A. The first levelshows an investor 108 that invests 122. The investor 108 is an actorthat interacts with the system. The oval is a use case, which identifiesthe activity performed. An arrow pointing from a use case to an actorindicates that an actor has a responsibility to carry out at least aportion of the use case.

Thus, an investor 108 initiates investing 122. An investor could eitherbe a financial planner 140 and/or an online user 142. Thus, the presentinvention contemplates serving a variety of users including atraditional financial planner managing people's assets an individualinvestor. Regardless of the identity of the online user, the online user142 manages portfolios 124. Managing portfolios 124 is the primary usecase.

The manage portfolios use case assigns the responsibility of trackingportfolios to a portfolio tracker 172. To manage portfolios, the systemhas to be able to keep track of portfolios. In fulfilling the trackingportfolio responsibility, the portfolio tracker maintains portfolios130, accounts for corporate actions 132, and looks up portfolios 134.

The maintain portfolios use case maintains portfolios by receivingexisting portfolio data in known file formats. In one embodiment, anautomated interface from a broker, allows regular, e.g., nightly,downloads that provide the system with holdings information regardingtheir customers. Alternatively, the maintain portfolios use case canreceive new data via a manual interface, e.g., allowing a user to typein holdings. The account for corporate actions 132 can receive datafeeds that provide information on stock splits and dividends to maintainaccurate information regarding holdings associated with accounts. Inaddition, the portfolio tracker is able to provide a list of portfoliosor look up a specific portfolio in response to a request from the manageportfolios use case 124.

The other main responsibility of manage portfolios 124 is to suggesttrades 128. The trade advisor 158 has the responsibility of suggestingtrades 128. In other words, the trade advisor suggests which stocks tobuy and which holdings to sell. The trade advisor 158 can also providealternatives to the suggested transactions.

The suggest trades use case assigns responsibility for producing analystrankings and forecasts to the security ranking aggregator 162. Thesecurity ranking aggregator is responsible for aggregating securityratings 166 from specific security analysts 120, who in turn analyzesecurities 136. Security rating aggregator 162 aggregates ratings ofsecurity analysts who analyze securities. The security rankingaggregator 162 also assigns responsibility for tracking subscriptions164.

Tracking subscriptions 164 tracks period, e.g., monthly, subscribers.Pay per request tracking 155 tracks usage by users who have opted for apay per request fee structure. Finally, verify access 153 verifies thatthe user has access to the security ranking aggregator 162.

The suggest trades use case 128 assigns responsibility for analyzingrisk 134 to the asset allocator 118. The asset allocator analyzes riskand identifies winning and losing securities for a given account andportfolio. Combining the risk analysis with security ranking informationprovided by the security ranking aggregator 162, the trade advisor 158can suggest trades. In addition, the trade advisor 158 can providealternative trades in the event the user does not like one or more ofthe suggested trades.

The asset allocator 118 can also analyze a portfolio in terms of thespecific tax lots that are held by the portfolio. When making a Sellrecommendation, the asset allocator 118 will suggest selling the taxlots which experienced the lowest return but greater in absolute valuethan a predetermined level in order to mitigate the tax consequences ofcapital gains.

Returning to the manage portfolios use case 124, another responsibilityfor managing a portfolio is to execute trades. The manage portfolios usecase 124 assigns this responsibility to a trader 105. The trade advisorhas suggested trades to the user, the user has selected one or moretrades and submitted the trades for execution. The trader is responsiblefor editing the order 154, e.g., changing the size of a particularorder. In addition, the trader can edit the order list 156, e.g., add orremove orders to the list. Finally, the trader 105 can send orders 152to a broker connection aggregator 168. The connection aggregator 168connects to multiple brokers 104. Thus, a portfolio can use multiplebrokers. Thus, the connection aggregator receives order lists andaggregates broker connections 170 before sending the orders to a broker104 for execution 138. The connection aggregator 168 monitors executionstatus and provides execution status back to the trader 105.

The online user 142 connects to the validate login request use case 146.This use case assigns the responsibility of creating user preferences149 and applying user preferences 151 to the online user manager 148.

Invest and Manage Portfolios

Manage Portfolios 124 is a sub use-case of Invest 122 from the Investors108 point of view. However, the system can achieve efficiencies byperforming multi-portfolio operations. In other words, the sameoperation can be applied across a number of portfolios conservingcomputer time and resources. The sequence diagrams in FIGS. 3A and 3B,illustrate common elements of the invest 122 and manage portfolios 124use cases.

These sequence diagrams essentially lay out the series of steps that arerequired to carry out the raise cash and spend cash scenarios. The stepsused to carry out the rebalance scenario are similar.

With reference to FIG. 3A, the portfolio manager 114 passes a raise cashvalue to the asset allocator 118. Asset allocator 118 passes a rankportfolio request to a risk ranker 172. The risk ranker 172 passes a getbenchmark and a get tax lots request to the portfolio 174 associatedwith the initial spend cash request.

Tax lots include information that concerns the tax implications oftrading a security. The risk ranker 172 passes a get historical datarequest to the historical data provider (HDP) 176. In addition, the riskranker 172 passes a get security ratings request to the security analyst120.

Thus, the risk ranker 172 ranks the positions in the portfolio. The riskranker 172 also obtains a series of tax lots associated with thepositions that make up the portfolio and an indication of whether thosepositions are good or bad to trade based on tax lot information. Therisk ranker passes this information back to the asset allocator 118. Theasset allocator then creates a sell list. The asset allocator 118 callsget last price to determine how many shares to sell in order to raisethe user specified amount of cash.

At this point, the asset allocator 118 provides an order list to theportfolio manager 114. The portfolio manager 114 sends the order list tothe trade station 180. The portfolio manager 114 is able to edit theorders within the order list. When the portfolio manager 114 makeschanges to the order list, the portfolio manager 114 calls the assetallocator 118 to perform a re-rank. The asset allocator 118 then ranksthe changed order list as outlined above so that the portfolio manager114 can see whether the change improves the overall portfolio rank.

When the portfolio manager 114 executes the selected orders, theportfolio manager 114 locks the portfolio 174. The trade station 180transmits the orders to the trader 104. The trader 104 can set a limitprice. Then, the trader 104 passes an execution request to the broker105. The trader can also send a cancel request to the broker 105. Thebroker 105 returns an order status to the trader 104 who in turn passesthe order status to the trade station 180. The trade stations 180 passesorder list complete values to the portfolio manager 114, which thenunlocks the portfolio 174 and sends a re-rank call to the assetallocator 118 to pass a rank portfolio request to the risk ranker 172.

The system models system classes, responsibilities and collaborationsusing class-responsibility-collaboration (CRC) cards. These cards defineelements of the system in terms of goals and responsibilities.

Class-Responsibility-Collaboration (CRC) Cards

With reference to FIGS. 1-3B, the following list of classes is based onanalysis of the main Invest 108 use case and the related elements of theManage Portfolios 124 use case. As noted above, the main use-case,Invest 108, is broken into three scenarios:

1) Raise Cash

2) Spend Cash

3) Rebalance

Each of the classes listed below includes a brief description of theclass's purpose and a Class-Responsibility-Collaboration (CRC) Card. TheCRC cards identify the responsibilities of each class and indicate whichresponsibilities require collaboration on the part of other classes. TheCRC cards include all three scenarios. The cards use the scenario term“General” where the responsibility of the class is the same for allthree scenarios. Scenario names are used to indicate whereresponsibilities are specific to an individual scenario.

Investor 108

The investor class represents the individual investor. Not only doesthis class identify the investor and his portfolios, it also carriesinvestor preferences. This investor receives services from the systemapplication either directly (as the end-user) or through a financialplanner or portfolio manager. Responsibilities Scenario CollaboratorsMust have an account General Portfolio Manager Must provide portfoliodetails General Investor Preferences Risk threshold Buy/SellRestrictions Investment horizon Portfolio Identify Buy/Sell restrictionsIdentify the amount of cash to be Raise Cash Portfolio Manager raised.Identify the amount of cash to be Spend Cash Portfolio Manager spentRebalance Rebalance Portfolio ManagerPortfolio Manager 114

This class represents the financial planner or person in charge ofmaintaining the portfolio and acting upon suggestions made by theapplication. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Locate InvestorAccount General Investor Identify Portfolio within Account GeneralPortfolio Assemble and Combine Buy/Sell General Investor PreferencesRestrictions Portfolio Manager Preferences Portfolio PreferencesDetermine amount of cash to raise Raise Cash Investor Determine amountof cash to spend Spend Cash Investor Request trade list from AssetGeneral Asset Allocator Allocator Trade List Build Order List and sendto General Order List TradeStation Trade List Trade Station RequestAlternate Security picks. General Asset Allocator Security AnalystBenchmark Edit Trade List, which is General Trade List returned fromAsset Allocator. Asset Allocator This involves selecting TradeStationsecurities different securities to buy and sell as well as changingsizes of shares. Request re-ranking of portfolio General Asset Allocatorfrom Asset Allocator as trades are edited and selected. Execute OrderList. This event General Trade Station triggers the Order List to beTrade List sent from the Trade Station to Trader the Trader forexecution. Listen for Trade List completion General TradeStation event.When received: Portfolio Accounting Update Portfolio System UnlockPortfolio Portfolio Schedule Portfolio Rebalance Asset AllocatorPortfolio 174

This class identifies an investor's holdings, tax lots and benchmark.Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Be able to provide a listGeneral Holding of holdings Provide the ability to add, General Holdingdelete and update holdings Security Tax Lot Provide the current valueGeneral Holding of a holding Real Time Data Provider Ability to provideand General Portfolio Preferences maintain preferences Provide theability to General Benchmark identify and set a Benchmark Identify theowner or General Investor investor Provide two main states; GeneralTrade Station locked and unlocked and Portfolio Manager be able torestrict access to read-only when locked Provide the ability to GeneralTrade Station sort and filter on any Portfolio Manager field of aholding including risk rankingBenchmark

This class identifies the industry categorizations and the category orsector weightings. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Providepercentage weights for General Real Time Data Provider each sector orindustry category Reference Data Provider contained in benchmark Providesecurity membership General Reference Data Provider information for allsecurities in universe of stocks for use in constructing alternates.Provide Alternates for a security General Security Analyst, AlternateSecurities ListSecurity Analyst 120

Identifies single security advisor including their security ratings.Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Provide ratings on individualsecurities General SecuritySecurity

This class identifies the properties of a single security.Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Be able to identify referenceGeneral Reference Data Provider information on a particular securitysuch as CUSIP, SEDOL, Company, etc. Be able to identify sector orGeneral Reference Data Provider industry category membership Be able toidentify the last General Real Time Data Provider price of a particularsecurityInvestor Data Provider (IDP) 73

Includes interfaces to legacy systems for nightly batch updates ofportfolio data. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Provide fortransmittal of investor portfolio General Investor holdingsReal Time Data Provider (RTDP) 178

This class provides real-time data such as Last price for use in variouscalculations. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Provide last priceinformation for General Holding calculating current value of holdings aswell Security as other calculations.Historical Data Provider 176

This class provides historical data for use in nightly batchcalculations. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Provide regulartransmittal of historical data General Risk Ranker on risk and price foruse in risk calculations.Reference Data Provider 177

This class provides information about securities and benchmarks such assector membership. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Provideinformation on specific securities General Security such as CUSIP,SEDOL. Provide information for the construction of General Benchmarkstandard benchmarks such as industry codes for the S&P 500.Trade Station 180

Provides access to proposed trades and includes methods for managingtrade list. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Designate a Brokeron each Order General Broker Portfolio Order Pass order list to Traderwhen Portfolio General Portfolio Manager Manager signals to execute theorder list. Trader Monitor status of orders in order list General TraderSend Portfolio Manager a message when General Portfolio Manager OrderList is complete Trader Monitor changes to Order List made by GeneralPortfolio Manager Portfolio Manager Order List OrderAsset Allocator 118

This class has the responsibility to communicate with the risk rankerand assemble suggestions based on specific use cases. ResponsibilitiesScenario Collaborators Create Order List of Sell trades Raise CashPortfolio Pass portfolio including Benchmark Risk Ranker to Risk RankerReal Time Data Ask Risk Ranker to deliver ranked Provider portfolio UseRaise Cash amount, Last Trade Price and Buy/Sell Restrictions todetermine which holdings to sell Rebalance Portfolio Rebalance AssetAllocator Generate Order List by applying Portfolio Buy/SellRestrictions Provide portfolio summary ranking General Supply Buy Sidealternatives Rebalance, Security Analyst Spend Cash Risk Ranker CreateBuy List using Cash to Spend Cash Risk Ranker Spend amountRisk Ranker 172

This class delivers risk rankings for a portfolio. ResponsibilitiesScenario Collaborators Provide rank for each holding in a GeneralPortfolio portfolio Holding Iterate through portfolio tax lots Tax LotAccess portfolio benchmark Benchmark obtain security advisor rankingsSecurity Security Analyst Historical Data Provider Reference DataProvider Summarize portfolio risk ranking General PortfolioBroker 105

Includes all supported broker information and interfaces to brokersystem. Responsibilities Scenario Collaborators Receive orders fromTrader and General Trader acknowledge receipt Execute orders and notifytrader when General Trader executed or canceled.Trade Template

This class identifies actions to be carried out on a group ofportfolios. A potential trade template is shown in FIG. 14. A set ofsaved trade templates is shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the system layers for the investmentadvices system of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a DNA representation of the system.This embodiment of the system software has three layers, thepresentation layer 179, the business layer 177, and the data accesslayer 185. The layers are not necessarily on different platforms butthey can be on different platforms.

In one embodiment, the presentation layer 179 and the business layer 177are on web servers that run as part of a clustered web farm. These webservers do not store session state stored. A load-balancing serverprovides a front end. Thus, if a user is accessing the system from a webbrowser and a particular server that the user was connected to goesdown, when the user hits his enter key again, the user is routed to adifferent functioning server.

The system can store state information in a cookie or in the HTTPrequest. In one embodiment, the presentation layer is run in activeXserver pages (ASP). ASP is a scripting environment that allows adesigner to write scripts that generate dynamic HTML pages. Otherservices that can be included in the presentation layer include extendedstyle sheet language (XSL) and extended markup language (XML). Thebusiness layer 177 exposes data to the presentation layer 179 as XML.The presentation layer includes a number of ASP pages that reference XSLto transform the XML into hypertext markup language HTML.

The business layer 177 has two sublayers: the business logic layer 183,and the business services layer 181. The business logic layer 183includes a trade advisor 236, security ratings aggregator 238 and brokerconnection aggregator 240. Together these components form an applicationservice provider. These components have specified interfaces. Forexample, when the system calls the security rating aggregator, itreceives a valid security name, and a subscription ID for validating andcharging the requester.

The business services layer 181 includes emissary objects. Emissaryobjects form the interface between the business logic layer 183 and thepresentation layer 179. Emissary objects ensure that the informationbeing passed into the business logic layer 183 from the presentationlayer 179 is accurate. Emissary objects also transform informationcoming out of the business logic layer 183 into a format that thepresentation layer 179 can display.

The data access layer 185 has a SQL server such as Microsoft SQL serveravailable from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. The data accesslibrary 244 is a set of services that place a front-end on the system'sdata services. This provides the system with the ability to changebackend database vendors without altering the application.

The interfaces between the emissary objects and the business logic layerare ADO record sets (activeX data objects). The interfaces between thebusiness and data access layer are also ADO record sets. The interfacebetween the data access library and the SQL server is an SQL interfacesuch as Transact-SQL.

Use Cases for Asset Allocation

One embodiment of an asset allocation procedure according to theinvention provides use cases for the significant ways that a user caninteract with the system. The system can interact with a user via a userinterface as shown in FIGS. 10-16.

One embodiment of the procedures provides the following data about aportfolio:

-   -   1. The percentage of the portfolio that is invested in any        particular sector    -   2. The marginal contribution to risk associated with any        individual holding, actual or proposed    -   3. The tax impact of selling any individual holding    -   4. The factor loadings of a client's portfolio, the client's        selected benchmark and all securities monitored by the system

One embodiment of an investment advice system according to the inventionuses the procedures to detect the following undesirable situations:

-   -   1. Taking a short-term gain in a holding which will soon convert        to long-term    -   2. Purchasing a stock that was sold within the 30 day wash        period    -   3. Undertaking a transaction which will significantly increase        the risk of the remaining portfolio    -   4. Purchasing a security with a low advisor rank or selling a        holding with a high advisor rank.

Finally, the investment advice system can use these procedures to advisea user about potentially advantageous transactions:

1. The most advantageous way to raise cash

2. The most advantageous way to spend cash

3. The most advantageous way to rebalance

The investment advice system 80 determines advantages with respect tothe following information:

-   -   1. The return ranking of a stock    -   2. The allocation of assets across industry sectors in a        relevant benchmark    -   3. The impact that taxes will have on potential transactions    -   4. Other recent buys and sells in the same stock from this        portfolio    -   5. Exposure to specified common factors and sectors as well as        concentration in a security.

While the system 80 can present this data to a user in many ways, theembodiment of the investment advice system 80 illustrated in FIG. 1 usesthe following use-cases:

-   -   1. The system harvests losses to offset capital gains

In one embodiment, the application automatically displays a list ofsells that have losses greater than a percent, specified in the user'sprofile, of their market value. The user has the option to delete thesesells from the list before execution.

-   -   2. The system rebalances portfolio(s) to reduce risk and        increase the portfolio's stock rankings

With reference to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the system 80 computes thecombined sell ranking for all stock in the portfolio. This rankingcombines the negative of the return ranking, the negative of themarginal risk ranking and the negative of the % tax gain on the lot withthe highest cost. The system 80 selects the stock with the mostfavorable sell ranking (ie. bad return ranking, bad marginal risk andhigh % tax loss) and sells up to 1%. The system 80 continues to examinestocks until it creates a list of sells whose value is greater than orequal to 1% of the portfolio.

Next the system 80 chooses positions with the best combined purchaserank. This ranking combines the return ranking and the marginal riskranking. If the position was sold less than 30 days ago, then the systemproceeds to the position with the next best rank. This continues untilthe system finds an eligible purchase. Once the system finds an eligiblepurchase, it creates a buy transaction. The amount of the purchase isequal to 1% of the total value of the portfolio. At this point thesystem alternates between creating purchases and sales in 1% increments.Incremental purchases of the same stock may continue until the positionmaximum is reached.

When purchases or sales reach the point where their value is equal tothe percentage of the portfolio specified by the user's profile (i.e.,the maximum turnover), the system records the list of stocks to betransacted. The system then examines an additional 5% of trades to seeif there are incremental transactions for any stocks in the recordedlist.

The lists of buys and sells are presented to the user at this point.This list includes the number of shares to be transacted, the portfolioweight represented by the transaction, and an indication of theimprovement in combined risk from this transaction. The user may electto disregard any or all of the suggested trades by deselecting them. Theuser then indicates that the remaining trades are accepted.

This creates two different modes for trades on the screen. Proposedtrades are those that result from the trade selection process describedabove while accepted trades are those that the user indicates he wouldlike to execute. No trades leave the system for execution until the userindicates that he is through with the iterative process of tradeselection. The user must then approve the final basket of trades.

-   -   3. The user wishes to purchase or sell an individual stock

If the user wishes to purchase or sell a particular security, the userenters the security's symbol and number of units to be bought or sold inthe trade blotter portion of the screen. In the case of a purchase, thesystem provides the combined purchase ranking and a suggested size ofthe purchase (which may overlap with that suggested by the user). In thecase of a sale the system provides the combined sale ranking (whichincludes return rank, risk rank and taxes) as well as an estimate of thetaxes to be paid given the users suggested trade size.

Static Computations & Data

Using a commercially available statistical package of weekly stockreturns from a commercially available data base covering all relevantsecurities the system performs the following static computations:

-   -   a. Calculate each security's market beta. Richard C. Grinold &        Ronald N. Kahn, in Active Portfolio Management, Probus        Publishing, Chicago, 1995, incorporated herein by reference in        its entirety.    -   b. Use cross sectional regression and the resulting weekly        return residuals to calculate factor returns attributable to        price/Earnings, price/Book, yield and market capitalization.        Generate a covariance matrix of these factor returns over time.    -   c. Use the resulting residual returns, capitalization weighted,        and a sector beta of 1.0 to calculate the returns attributable        to sector membership.    -   d. The remaining residual returns are security specific and the        system calculates their historical variance.

From this exercise, we derive a factor covariance matrix, factorloadings for each security and an estimate of the stocks residualstandard deviation.

Normalize Advisor Forecasts

Different advisors may use different scales for their forecasts. Sincethe system compares and possibly combines forecasts from differentadvisors, the system can normalize them. The system normalizes each setof forecasts such that they have an average value of zero and a standarddeviation of one. The system 80 determines a minimum (−2) and maximum(+2) standardized value. The system 80 then translates the normalizedforecast into a ranking centered around the average of the worst andbest rank. The system defines these forecast rankings asForecast ranking=(worst rank+best rank)/2+Normalized forecast*(bestrank-worst rank)/(max std value-min std value)

The system combines rankings from different advisors based on theestimated correlations of the rankings with one another, the assumedcorrelations of rankings with subsequent returns and minimum and maximumvalues for the relative weights of each advisor. The assumedcorrelations of ranking can be based on the historical correlations ofrankings with returns and can be based on the system's judgment of theirquality. The minimum and maximum weights may derive from the system'sjudgments concerning the relative importance of each source. The systemsolves for the weights on each set of forecast rankings using anoptimization program where the system defines the covariance matrix asthe covariance of the forecast rankings with one another (using estimatecorrelations and standard deviations to define the covariances) and thecovariance of the forecast rankings with subsequent returns (usingassumed correlations of forecast rankings of returns and the estimatedstandard deviation of returns). The system imposes a weight of −1 on thesubsequent returns and solves for the weights on the forecast rankingssuch that the weights are between the maximum and minimum weights andsuch that the product of the weights and the covariance matrix isminimized.

The system creates the combined ranking as the weighted combination ofthe rankings from each advisor. The system rescales these rankings (asthe system resealed each advisor's forecasts above). Besides having acombined ranking for each security, the system also estimatestransaction costs: defined as the security's bid ask spread plus anallowance for commission.

Computing Combined Stock Ranks

The goal of the risk rank computation is to develop a ranking which canbe scaled proportionate to the forecast ranking that takes into accountthe stocks held in the portfolio and the investor's aversion to risk.Stocks contributing more risk when added to the portfolio have negativerankings and stocks contributing less risk have positive rankings. Acombined ranking for purchases includes the forecast ranking, the riskranking and a transaction cost ranking. A combined ranking for sales ofstocks in the portfolio also includes a tax ranking. The system maychoose to also show each advisor's rankings, the components of risk andthe potential tax gain and transaction costs (before being translatedinto rankings.

Inputs Include:

The list of securities covered (Y)

The industry list (I)

The sector list (R)

The sector membership list (I→R)

The industry membership list (Y→I)

Last night's closing price (p_(n))

In addition, the system also requires the intermediate data computed inthe static computations:

Sector Covariance matrix (Ω^(R))

Factor Covariance matrix (Ω^(F))

Stock residual risk (StockResidualRisk′(y))

Normalized forecasts (Forecast(A, y))

Also, this computation requires new values not used before:

-   -   Risk Aversion coefficient (C^(Risk)≅0.3). This is a constant        used to spread the risk ranks versus the return contribution        from the advisor's forecast rankings. For risk lovers, the        coefficient is small, implying that the return ranks drives the        allocation decisions: for the risk averse, the coefficient is        larger, implying that the system seeks safer stocks since the        return rankings is dominated by the risk rankings.    -   Tax (and Tcost) Weight (C^(Tax)). This is a constant used to        balance the contribution of taxable gain. It is set on for a        particular portfolio to represent the user's tax and transaction        cost sensitivity.        Although the user deals with portfolio holdings as share values,        the components that implement these algorithms treat them as        weights. The portfolio stock weight (ω′_(y)) is the weight of a        stock in the portfolio: $\begin{matrix}        {\omega_{y}^{\prime} = \frac{{shares} \times {price}}{{total}\quad{portfolio}\quad{value}}} & \left( {2.0{.1}} \right)        \end{matrix}$

This is a value between zero and one that represents the fraction valueof the holding relative to the portfolio's total value. Given thecurrent behavioral model of the application, there are three differentsets of portfolio weights:

-   -   The initial weights represent the portfolio security allocation        as it is currently    -   The accepted weights represent the predicted portfolio asset        allocation following the execution of trades which have been        accepted by the user    -   The proposed weights represent the predicted portfolio asset        allocation should the user accept all of the proposed trades

The portfolio's total value is the sum of the values of each holding,including cash. When making the risk calculations, the system uses theactive portfolio weights (portfolio minus benchmark weight) rather thanjust the portfolio weights.

Compute Sector Weights and Portfolio Factor Loadings

The sector weights represent the sum of the active portfolio positionsin a given sector. Thus, the system can sum the weights: $\begin{matrix}{\omega_{r}^{\prime} = {\sum\limits_{y \in {Y_{r}\bigcup Y_{r}^{m}}}\left( {\omega_{y}^{\prime} - \omega_{r}^{m}} \right)}} & \left( {2.2{.0}} \right)\end{matrix}$The portfolio loading on a particular factor is the sum of the productsof its active weight and factor value for each stock.Compute Residual Risk

The contribution of residual risk to the portfolio's total variance isthe sum of each stock's weight squared times its residual variance.

Compute Sector Risk

The contribution of sector risk to the portfolio's total variancesectorrank is the product of the sector weights and the sector covariances. Itis computed as: SectorRisk (y)=SectorRank(y)=ω′_(r) ₁ {right arrow over (ω)}Ω^(R)  (2.3.0). . . where

{right arrow over (ω)} is a vector of sector weights as

Ω^(R) is the sector covariance matrix

r₁ is the sector to which stock y belongs.In scalar form, it is: $\begin{matrix}{{{SectorRank}(y)} = {\sum\limits_{r_{1} \in R}{\omega_{r_{1}}^{\prime}\omega_{r_{2}}^{\prime}\Omega_{r_{1}r_{2}}^{R}}}} & \left( {2.3{.1}} \right)\end{matrix}$Compute Factor Risk

The factor risk contribution to the portfolio's total variancefactorrank the product of the portfolio loadings and the factor covariances.It is computed as: FactorRisk(y)=FactorRank(y)={right arrow over (ω)}_(y)Ω^(R){right arrow over(ω)}^(P)  (2.4.0). . . where

Ω^(R) is the factor covariance matrix

{right arrow over (ω)}^(P) is a vector of portfolio average values forthe factors—${\overset{\_}{\omega}}^{P} = \left\{ {\sum\limits_{y \in Y}{{\omega_{y}^{\prime} \cdot {P/E_{y}}}\quad{\sum\limits_{y \in Y}{{\omega_{y}^{\prime} \cdot {P/B_{y}}}\quad\cdots\quad{\sum\limits_{y \in Y}{\omega_{y}^{\prime} \cdot {Yeild}_{y}}}}}}} \right\}$In scalar form, it is: $\begin{matrix}{{{FactorRank}(y)} = {\sum\limits_{f_{1} \in F}{\left( {\sum\limits_{y \in Y}{\omega_{y}^{\prime} \cdot f_{1,y}}} \right)\left( {\sum\limits_{f_{2} \in F}{f_{2,y} \cdot \Omega_{f_{1}f_{2}}^{F}}} \right)}}} & \left( {2.4{.1}} \right)\end{matrix}$The portfolio variance is the sum of the residual, sector and factorvariances.Compute Portfolio Specific Marginal Risk Calculations for Each Securityin the Universe, Whether Held or Not Held.

For each security add a 0.1% weighting to the portfolio and calculatethe corresponding change in factor, sector and residual risk divided bythe change in weight. Each calculation below should be done using theactive portfolio weights. The system performs these calculations bycalculating revised contributions to residual, sector and factorvariances, subtracting original values and dividing by the change inweight. The sum of these marginal variances is the marginal variance foreach stock. If the system normalizes these marginal variances (centeringthem at zero and dividing through by their standard deviation), thesystem can create a ranking as described above for the forecast rankings(with the additional step of multiplying the risk rankings scaledbetween −5 and 5 by the risk constant (taking a value between 0 (notrisk averse) and 1 (very risk averse)). Risky stocks receive a worstranking while low risk stocks receive a best ranking. The system cancalculate components of marginal variance (residual, sector and factor)by removing the average for each across stocks and by using the samescaling transformation as for the marginal variance.

Estimate the Percentage Tax Impact

The percentage tax impact is the percentage of the market value of thesale that will be paid in taxes. The system estimates the percentage taximpact as: $\begin{matrix}{{{TaxImpact}(y)} = {\frac{gain}{p_{n} \times {shares}} \times \left\{ \begin{matrix}{40\%} & {{long}\text{-}{term}\quad{gain}} \\{20\%} & {{short}\text{-}{term}\quad{gain}}\end{matrix} \right.}} & \left( {2.7{.0}} \right)\end{matrix}$The impact varies according to when the purchase of the stock took placeand at what price. The system calculates this tax impact based on themost favorable tax lot. The system translates these tax impacts into taxrankings using the procedure described above for the marginalvariances—with positive tax rankings associated with tax losses andnegative rankings associated with tax gains.

Finally, the system translates each stocks transaction costs into atransaction cost ranking after rescaling with the tax constant. Thesystem then derives combined rankings for each stock consisting of thereturn ranking, risk ranking tax and transaction cost rankings.

FIG. 20 is a dataflow diagram illustrating the generation of a benchmarkfrom a set of securities—such as the S&P 500. Initially, each stock inthe benchmark is weighted, step 402. Each stock's weight is calculatedas the market capitalization of the stock as a percentage of the entirebenchmark. In order to obtain sector exposure, the sum of all stocks ineach sector is computed, step 404. In order to obtain a single factorexposure—beta for example—each stock's weight is multiplied by thestock's beta and the results of these calculations are summed, step 408.This calculation is completed for each factor, for example P/E, P/B,capitalization, Beta, and yield, to obtain the factor exposures for thebenchmark. A customized benchmark can be created by selecting individualstocks comprising the benchmark rather than relying on a standardbenchmark such as the S&P 500.

Performing Portfolio Risk Calculations

FIG. 5 illustrates the flow of data through the dynamic calculations.The system 80 stores the results of the static computations in thedatabase and need not be modified during the dynamic calculations. Thedisk symbols indicate a database or other data sources. All static datacome from these database tables.

Each box represents a step in the computations documented above.Requests from the client are of the form “what trades should I do” or“how does this trade look?” Both of these requests require an up-to-datelist of combined rankings for each holding in the portfolio. The systemhandles this request by computing step 1, i.e., steps 1a and 1b, for allholdings, then step 2 for all holdings, and so on. The number on eachstep indicates that step's sequence in the computation. For example,steps 2a, 2b, and 2c may be performed in parallel, but they must beperformed after step 1 and before step 3.

One embodiment of the system uses a spreadsheet-type procedure topredict which values the system needs to recompute. The arrows indicatedata dependencies between the computations. These arrows thus indicatewhat data the system needs to recomputed when a value changes. Thesystem stores the intermediate values indicated by the labels on eacharrow between boxes.

For example, assume a portfolio manager changes his model portfolio. Hefirst logs into the system and examines the portfolio combined riskentries. This process requires all of the steps 1-5. Next, the portfoliomanager modifies the model table in the database—represented above bythe disk symbol labeled “benchmark.” The system could then run all steps1-5 to recompute the combined risk entries.

In order to make this scenario more efficient, the system can modifystep 1 so that when the user first logs in, the system computes thestock weights and stores them in a per-user table. Then, when the systemneeds to recompute the combined risk based on a new benchmark, it canrun only steps 2-5. The system would not need to run step one, becausethere is no data dependency between the portfolio benchmark and step1—no arrow between them in the diagram.

The system can further refine the algorithm by storing the results ofsteps 2a and 2c in similar per-session tables called“beta_adjusted_sector_weights” and “residual_rank.” Now, when the systemneeds to recompute the combined risk based on a new benchmark, it canrun only steps 2b, 3, 4, and 5.

It is possible to further refine the algorithm to take into account datadependencies within the tables. For example, we could mark each modelweight as clean or dirty. Then when the system performs thecomputations, could the system can limit step 3a to compute sectorweights for only those sectors with new model weights.

Obtaining and Storing Portfolio Data

Obtaining Portfolio Data from Plan Sponsors

One embodiment of the system displays only up to date information onaccounts. While the system applies some transactions to its databaseintra-day (i.e. executed trades), the portfolio manager updates systeminformation each day to confirm the state of the portfolio as the systemdisplays it to the customer. A dataflow of information sent to thesystem and the responses returned is shown in FIG. 6:

Here the file parser 266 simply parses the information and loads it intodatabase tables which still reflect the file format received from theplan sponsor 264. When the fields are in the staging database 268, thesystem translates, validates, and transfers the fields to the productiondatabase 270. This helps the system to avoid the situation where thefile parser 266 becomes cluttered with code that handles special parsingand translation requirements.

The file parser 266 should make COM+ calls to store each record in thestaging database 268—as opposed to batch processing. The system handlesintra-day updates from the plan sponsor 264. The components thattranslate and validate the incoming portfolio updates can be composed ofCOM+ objects in order to allow the system to quickly accommodate newfile formats or changes in file formats without having a major impact onthe system as a whole.

There are two ways that the plan sponsor 264 indicates changes in theportfolio: 1) by sending “deltas”—change transactions—or 2) byretransmitting the entire portfolio. The system typically creates newportfolios using the second mechanism, but some plan sponsors can opt tosend only changes to their portfolios once the system has created aparticular portfolio. The system obtains periodic refreshes of entireportfolios from the plan sponsor 264 in such cases. In one embodiment,the system allows for multiple file formats. Exception handling 276handles rejected records 274, i.e., records rejected by the file parser266 or the staging database 268.

Tax-Lot Data

In order to base recommendations on tax advantages and disadvantages,the system keeps track of portfolio positions in terms of tax-lots. Thebreakdown of a portfolio into tax-lots is shown in FIG. 7:

The system stores the original size of the lot. The actual size of thelot varies depending upon the number of sales linked to that block ofstock. The system can maintain the actual size of the lot either byadding a field to the lot that shows the current price or by creating aview for holdings, which is a rollup of the tax lot table. If the systemcreates a separate field, then the system can use a trigger on the tableof sales to decrement the current lot size each time a sale is added orupdated.

Data Model

FIGS. 8A-8H illustrate a relational data model, which accommodates thelong and medium term information used above.

FIG. 8A provides a master view of the relational data model andillustrates the data tables comprising the data model.

FIG. 8B provides a user view of the data tables associated with a userof the system including a Users table containing one entry for each userof the system. The user types can be for example, Advisor, Custodian,and Customer/Owner.

The User Preferences GUI Table of FIG. 8A is used to store userpreferences for display of information. The Privtemplates table of FIG.8A is used to keep track of what privileges a user has.

The Benchmarks table of FIG. 8D is used as a “header” record for thebenchmark data. Benchmarks are used to define a target structure tomeasure a portfolio (actual set of holdings) against. The benchmark willinclude target allotments for each “sector”, a reference to a sectorcategorization scheme (to determine which symbols comprise a particular“sector”), and target for each of the factors (P/E, market cap., etc.).The BenchmarkWeights table of FIG. 8D stores the actual sector weightingvalues are stored by benchmark and categorization scheme. TheSecurityCategories table contains the categories to be used. It isrecursive to allow for multiple levels of sub-categories. TheCategorizedSecurities table is a cross reference which identifies thelowest sub-category that a symbol belongs to (within a givencategorization scheme). The Securities table Contains all necessaryinformation about a particular symbol. The PriceHistory table Storeshistorical pricing data for all securities. This is used to determinehistorical returns. The CategorySchemes table contains an entry for eachcategory scheme. An example of a category scheme might be the S&P 500categories.

The Analyst View of FIG. 8C includes an Analysts table containing name,address, etc. for all analysts who make recommendations. TheAnalystsRankings table is used to store rankings of securities byanalyst.

The Trades and Orders View of FIG. 8H includes a Suggested trades tablethat is a temporary table used to store trades suggested by the assetallocator pending user action to actually implement the trade or ignoreit. The Orders table stores the orders for the trade station. When auser decides to implement a suggested trade it is moved to the orderstable. The record is updated when the trade station actually makes thetrade. The Trade template table is used to keep track of trades for aportfolio. It is used when an investment advisor wishes to make similartrades in a group of portfolios where he/she serves as advisor, and isprovided to expedite the process.

The Portfolio View of FIG. 8F includes a Portfolios table that tracksthe information about a particular portfolio. It is the “header” recordfor the portfolio with the detail being stored in the Lots table. ThePortfolioUserXref table keeps track of which portfolios belong to whichuser (user type Customer), which users are custodians for a particularportfolio, and which users are advisors for a particular portfolio. TheLots table keeps track of every “lot” associated with a portfolio.Holdings are stored by lot so as to facilitate determination of whichshares of a given holding should be sold first for tax consideration.The lot table is aggregated to create a “holdings” recordset whennecessary. The Alerts table is used to store alerts for a particularportfolio. An alert is set when there is a news item, or when a stocksprice has changed significantly and could require user intervention. Thebrokers table contains name, address, etc. for brokers who areauthorized to transact trades which are generated.

The Buy Sell Restrictions View of FIG. 8G includes a BuySellRestrictionstable storing information about trades to be restricted within aportfolio. For instance, the same symbol may not be traded twice withina 1 month period (to avoid churn). The systems also allows the user tospecify symbols they do not wish to own, and/or symbols they areunwilling to sell.

The Category Covariance View of FIG. 8E includes a CategoryCovariancetable that stores co-variances used in risk and allocation calculations.

There are several issues surrounding the storage of the what-ifscenarios. One embodiment of the system uses a dynamic trades table thatexists with the user's session. The system creates this table when theuser begins a session. Trades continue to be held until either the usercommits them to trade, resets the session, or ends the session.

One embodiment of a system according to the invention saves some of thedynamic data described above throughout the session as well. Theportfolio weights and residual risk only change when a stock positionchanges. The sector weights and sector beta only change when a stockposition in that sector changes. The system can compute the originalvalues when the session starts and stores the values as the originalportfolio in a table extension of the position view. When a userproposes trades, the system can read the positions and sectors thatdon't change from this original portfolio. This same strategy works ifthe system stores the accepted portfolio and reuses these values whenproposing new trades. The following are examples of dynamic tradestables: istock PK istock_username PK istock_stock_cusip PKistock_portfolio istock_weight ristock_esidual_risk

isector PK isector_username PK isector_sector_code PK isector_portfolioisector_weight isector_beta

Having described embodiments of the system in terms of systemdeployment, business and general use cases, CRC cards, sequencediagrams, system layers, data flows, and a relational data model, thesystem map of FIG. 9 relates to the operation of one embodiment of thesystem. This embodiment of the system is tailored for a user, e.g., afinancial planner, that manages a number of accounts. For example, thisembodiment allows a user to apply similar strategies to similar accountsand to interactively obtain information and advice regarding hisaccounts. As will be obvious to those of skill in the art, anotherembodiment of the system can be tailored for another type of user, e.g.,an individual investor.

A user can access the system via main navigation 182. From mainnavigation 182 a user can access my accounts 184, account search 186,quotes & research 188, my profile 190, help 192, and login/logout 194.My accounts 184 provides a summary of the accounts the user has with thesystem. Account search 186 also accessible from my accounts enables theuser to search out a particular account.

From my accounts 184 a user can access add account 196, account detail198, and trade station (multi-account) 180(a). From account detail 198 auser can access client demographics 210, trade station (single account)180(b), add/modify/delete holdings 214, raise cash 216, tax status 218,client interaction notes 226, order status/history 220, delete account228, and account goals/settings 222. From trade stations (singleaccount) 180(b) a user can access trade templates 204. From tradetemplates 204 a user can access rebalancing wizard 202 and accountsearch 186.

From account search 186 a user can access rebalancing wizard 202. Frommy profile a user can access trade templates 204, account views 206, andclass definitions 208.

FIG. 18 shows an alternative embodiment of the system map. Thisembodiment does not include the rebalancing wizard of FIG. 9. As will beobvious to one of skill in the art, the invention contemplates a varietyof system maps.

FIGS. 10-16 show embodiments of some of the elements of FIG. 9. FIG. 10shows one embodiment of my accounts 184. This embodiment of my accounts184 includes account list, stock alerts, and risk alerts displays. Theaccount list display lists information about accounts that the usermanages including the account name, account value, the percentage of theaccount that is in cash, the performance for a specified period, thebenchmark, the accounts risk rating, and the accounts alpha or stockrating. The user can alter the time period over which the performance ismeasured, for example, by using a drop down menu. In addition, in thisembodiment the user can choose to view other accounts using a drop downmenu.

The stock alerts display lists information about stocks of note asselected by the trade advisor 158 of FIG. 2B. The information includesthe stock rating, the number of accounts under the user's managementthat hold that stock, and the total value held by the accounts undermanagement. The user can choose to take action, e.g., view the accountsthat hold that stock or sell the stock from the holding accounts, basedon this information. As will be obvious to those of skill in the art thestocks alert display can generalized to a display that alerts the userabout securities in general.

The risk alerts display provides information about accounts with ahigh-risk rating. The information includes the account name and the riskrating. The user can then hyperlink immediately to the accounts inquestion to examine the account and take corrective action ifappropriate.

FIG. 11 shows one embodiment of account search 186. Account search 186is a form page that allows a user to search for accounts based on one ormore parameters. The parameters include words in the account name,account value, cash percentage, performance, benchmark, risk, stockrating, and stock holding value. Once the user has entered theparameters of interest, the user can submit the search and the systemreturns the user to my accounts listing accounts that match the searchcriteria.

FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of account detail 198. Account detail 198includes general information 250, holdings 254, portfoliorecommendations 252, analysis 256, and trade station 258 displays. Thegeneral information display identifies general information about theselected account. The holdings 254 display provides information aboutthe current holdings in the account's portfolio by sector. Thisembodiment of the holdings 254 display can display holdings in eithertable or graph format. Similarly, the analysis display can display theanalysis in either table or graph format. FIG. 12 shows the graphformats. FIG. 13 shows the table formats. The displays of the system ingeneral can use a variety of formats to convey information.

Screen segment General Information 250 presents the client demographicinformation on the left side 249 with a button that can be clicked toinvoke modification of the demographic information. The right side 251shows client risk information encapsulated by a Benchmark Portfolio, thevalue of the client portfolio, the tracking difference between theBenchmark Portfolio and the actual portfolio, the portfolio's value atrisk and the aggregate ranking of the securities in the portfolio.

Screen segment Portfolio Recommendations 252 presents stockrecommendations from the subscribed source(s). The recommendations areconsistent with one another and are updated frequently; in the “SingleAccount Screen”. The recommendations apply specifically to the clientportfolio being presented. For example, sales are only recommended onsecurities held by the portfolio. Purchases are recommended on the toppicks from the subscribed stock recommendation source.

Screen segment Holdings 254 presents the visual embodiment of theportfolio risk measures as they relate to the client portfolio ondisplay. The underlying system provides an average risk ranking forstocks in the portfolio as well as a traditional measure of risk, thestandard deviation of return over a year's horizon. The system separatesthis risk into components: exposure to common factors, sector exposuresand individual stock concentration. All of these measures are portrayedgraphically in screen segment A3 in an understandable way with thesystem instantiated in portfolio Rebalance Mode by default.

Rebalance Mode can best be described as a “continual improvement” modein which the portfolio is able to present the best opportunitiesavailable given its stock recommendation subscription(s), its securitiesvaluations, and tracking to its Benchmark.

Each securities individual concentration in the portfolio is visualizedin a histogram scaled by the value it represents in the portfolio. Thesecurities are ranked in descending order by their average risk rankingwithin their sector-based histogram.

For example, the Healthcare sector 262 shows securities BMY and JNJ tobe the most highly ranked within that sector. Security MKG is the lowestranked security in the Healthcare sector, which is over-exposed asillustrated by the aggregate securities value pushing above the sector'sBenchmark exposure. The sector's Benchmark exposure is the percentage ofthe total portfolio indicated by the arrow. FUND1 shows that the clientportfolio also has exposure to the Healthcare sector from owning amutual fund.

The example shows that the whole position of MKG is recommended for asale transaction, which following the example, would mean that if theentire position was sold, the portfolio would then be under-exposed tothe Healthcare sector in relation to its Benchmark. Therefore severalpurchase recommendations (not shown) are provided with the salerecommendation of MKG.

The purchase recommendations are selected by default, but the client candeselect the system's recommendations to get alternativerecommendations. Each of the systems checked recommendations arepopulated in the Trade Station, screen segment 258 to await execution.

Screen segment Analysis 256 allows the client portfolio to compare itsaverage ranking to a portfolio after trades or to a benchmark portfolio(such as the S&P 500). By selecting and deselecting alternatives andsuggestions and then by refreshing the Analysis, the client portfolio issubjected to as many “what if scenarios” prior to trade execution as theuser deems beneficial.

Screen segment Trade Station 258 is populated by the system'srecommendations which can be deselected by the user during the “what if”evaluation process. A broker of choice can be selected for purchasetransactions; sale transactions are designated with and transmitted tothe broker(s) who hold the securities on behalf of the client portfolio.

A user can capture their own view of subsequent stock performance bysupplying a ranking, which overrides all other rankings and becomes thecombined ranking for the stock. The system can retain the investor'sover-rides subject to investor revisions in the future. This importantfeature is initiated from within the Trade Station 258 screen segment.

Order prices and share sizes can also be altered from the Trade Station258 which causes the portfolio's Benchmark tracking, value at risk andaggregate stock ranking numbers to change. Once the execute button isselected, the trade list is transmitted to the broker(s) and theportfolio is locked until the transactions are released or executed bythe broker.

Screen segment Raise Cash 260 inside screen segment Holdings 254involves specifying an amount of cash for the system to raise by sellingportfolio holdings. A Raise Cash instruction to the system produces aset of tailored sell recommendations to raise the indicated amount ofcash, including transactions that can mitigate capital gains taxes.

Similarly, an amount of cash can be entered on behalf of the portfolioto spend buying securities. Such a Spend Cash instruction to the systemproduces a list of suggestions by combining information from analyzingthe risk of the portfolio and from analyzing the Security Analystratings of securities both held by the portfolio and not held by theportfolio. Buy recommendations typically spread portfolio risk overseveral Benchmark Categories such as Industry/Sector and will be sographically portrayed by the histograms of the screen segment holdings254.

FIG. 14 shows one embodiment of trade execution results 224. Tradeexecution results 224 provides information about the status of thetrade, the action, e.g., sell or buy, selected, the ticker symbol,shares, type, price, and value for the trade. Trade execution resultsallows the user to change or cancel the trade prior to completion of thetrade. In addition, trade execution results 224 allows a user to nameand save trade templates.

FIG. 15 shows one embodiment of trade templates 204. Trade templates 204lists information about trade templates including name and date created.Trade templates 204 also allows a user to start the rebalancing wizardfor all account with a benchmark equal to a benchmark that the user canselect, e.g., from a drop down menu.

FIG. 16 shows one embodiment of one embodiment of trade station(multi-account) 180(a). Trade station 180(a) includes a rebalanceaccounts display that provides information about various accountsincluding name, value, benchmark, current risk and stock rating andprojected risk and stock rating. Based on this information, a user canselect one or more accounts for rebalancing. The rebalance accounts alsoallows a user to select a trading template to apply to the selectedaccount(s).

FIGS. 17A-17C show various implementations of a system according to theinvention. In FIG. 17A, one embodiment of an investment advice system(IAS) 102 according to the invention operates between a financialinstitution 100 and a broker 104 or planner 140. In FIG. 17B, the IAS102 operates between the financial institution 100 and either the broker104, planner 140, or investor 108. In FIG. 17C, the IAS 102 operatesbetween the financial institution or commercial portal 110 and theinvestor 108.

With reference to FIG. 19, a system 300 representing an exemplary client56 or server 32 that can implement features of the present inventionincludes a bus or other communication means 302 for communicatinginformation between components of the system. The system 300 furtherincludes a processor 304 coupled to the bus 302 and a main memory, e.g.,a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device 306 alsocoupled to the bus. The RAM stores instructions for execution by theprocessor 304. The main memory can also store temporary variables. Thesystem 300 can include a mass storage device 316 coupled to the bus 302for storing information that is not accessed as regularly as informationstored in RAM.

System 300 can include a display 308 for displaying information such asadvice regarding the portfolio management to a user. The system caninclude an input devices such as a cursor control device 312 and akeyboard 310 for allowing a user input decisions and interactivelyexamine the impact of those decisions. The impact of the decisions caninclude tax implications, the impact of the decisions on the user'sportfolio's risk/reward balance, and the impact of the decisions on theuser's stock holding rating as determined by advisors either separatelyor collectively.

The system 300 can also include a communication device 314. If thesystem 300 is implementing one portion of one embodiment of theinvention, then the communication device 314 allows the system tocommunicate with other portions of the system and with the client 56.Alternatively, if the system 300 is implementing the system on a user'spersonal computer or personal digital assistant, the communicationdevice 314 can include a network card, an RF transceiver, or otherwell-known communication device for coupling to a network.

Overall System Description

The system described above is: scalable to allow for reasonably quickand consistent response times; extensible so that businesses may havethe option to integrate an embodiment of the invention into their legacysystems; and uses technologies which provide for a high degree ofmaintainability.

Choices for platforms include Windows 2000, SQL server and Windows NT.Development tools such as Visual InterDev for building the presentationlayer (ASP) and Visual C++ for building the business layer provide forRapid Application Development and a high level of integration withdevelopment management tools such as Visual Source Safe.

Scalability

Financial planners other highly trained personnel can use the presentinvention as a productivity tool. Therefore, the degree of performancerequired is much higher than that of a traditional network basedapplication. Furthermore, the variability in the number of concurrentusers at various installations requires that the Application is capableof taking advantage of more powerful hardware installations at locationswith more users. The Application Architecture must therefore account forthe possibility of multiple application servers as well as display layerservers. A Microsoft 2000 Load Balancing server provides a scalabilitysolution, but only if the display layer and application layer aredesigned correctly. The most important criteria are 1) that thedisplay/presentation layer and business layer objects must not maintainstate and 2) that these objects can be pooled. The business layerobjects can save and restore their state to and from the database serverwhen appropriate

Extensibility

Client computing is constantly changing. Therefore, the systemarchitecture uses an interface to the display layer that can be accessedusing various technologies including, but not limited to ASP, HTML, XML,Win32, COM, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and RDP (Remote DesktopProtocol). One embodiment uses a traditional browser applicationdesigned for access by Internet Explorer version 5. This embodiment usesvarious client technologies including DHTML, ActiveX, and client sideJavaScript.

In addition to the changing landscape of client computing, extensibilityalso deals with allowing customers to integrate the present inventioninto their existing applications. The system Architecture includes anapplication program interface (API) based on industry standardtechnologies such as ADO and OLE DB.

Finally, through the use of COM+ and server side JavaScript, objectoriented principles such as polymorphism and inheritance are built intothe application layer.

1. A system for implementing an investment advice service, the systemcomprising: a server computer hosting an investment advice serviceaccessible via client computers to a plurality of clients; and adatabase operably coupled to the server computer, the databaseidentifying a plurality of securities portfolios and maintainingportfolio information associated with the security portfolios; theinvestment advice service including a user interface comprising controlswhereby a client can access portfolio information concerning asecurities portfolio identified by the database, the investment adviceservice being available via a computer network to assist a client inmanaging a securities portfolio identified by the database, theinvestment advice service including a trade advisor component hosted bythe server computer and operatively coupled to the database to receiveportfolio information for a securities portfolio of the client, thetrade advisor component including an asset allocator component operableto compare the portfolio information received by the trade advisorcomponent with a benchmark, the trade advisor component proposingsecurities transactions to the client at least in part based on thecomparison by the asset allocator of the portfolio information with thebenchmark.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the investment adviceservice includes a security ranking aggregator component hosted by aserver computer and operably coupled to the trade advisor component, thesecurity ranking aggregator being operative to receive security ratingsfor securities from of a plurality security analysts and to aggregatethe security ratings for each security onto a uniform ranking scale. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the trade advisor component proposessecurities transactions to the client at least in part based on therankings of securities provided by the security ranking aggregatorcomponent.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the trade advisor componentproposes securities transactions to the client at least in part based onsecurities rankings provided by security analysts to the investmentadvice service.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the portfolioinformation maintained by the database includes tax lot information forthe portfolios identified by the database.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein the trade advisor component is operative to receive the tax lotinformation for a securities portfolio of a client and proposesecurities transactions for the securities portfolio at least in partbased on the tax lot information for the securities portfolio.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the investment advice service includes abroker connection aggregator hosted by a server computer and operablyconnected to the trade advisor component, the broker connectionaggregator having a broker interface for communicating with a pluralityof brokers over the computer network, the broker interface allowing aclient to execute securities transactions with one of the plurality ofbroker through the investment advice service.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the investment advice service includes a portfolio trackercomponent hosted by a server computer and operably coupled to thedatabase, the portfolio tracker component having a portfolio interfacefor receiving portfolio information concerning a securities portfoliofrom a client, the portfolio tracker component being operative tointerface with the database to maintain the portfolio information in asecurities portfolio identified by the database.
 9. The system of claim8, wherein/the portfolio tracker component is operative to establish abenchmark for a portfolio of a client based on risk information receivedfrom the client.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the asset allocatorcomprises a risk ranking component operative to compare the portfolioinformation received by the trade advisor component with the benchmarkto provide a risk rating for the securities portfolio.
 11. Acomputer-implement method for providing investment advice to a clientover a computer network, comprising providing access over a computernetwork to a database maintaining portfolio information for a pluralityof securities portfolios, and managing a securities portfolio identifiedby the database for a client by requesting portfolio information for thesecurities portfolio from the database, comparing the portfolioinformation to a benchmark for the securities portfolio, and proposingsecurities transactions to the client based at least in part on thecomparison of the portfolio information with benchmark for thesecurities portfolio.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11,further comprising collecting security rankings for a security from aplurality of security analysts, and aggregating the security rankingsfor the security onto a uniform ranking scale.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the step of aggregatingincludes normalizing the security rankings to a set of integer values.14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprisingcollecting security rankings for a plurality of security from aplurality of security analysts, aggregating the security rankings foreach security onto a uniform ranking scale to provide a uniform rankingof the securities, and proposing securities transactions to the clientbased at least in part on the uniform ranking of the securities.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the portfolioinformation maintained by the database includes tax lot information. 16.The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the step ofmanaging a securities portfolio includes requesting tax lot informationfrom the database for the portfolio, and proposing securitiestransactions to the client based at least in part on the tax lotinformation for the securities portfolio.
 17. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 16, further comprising providing a broker connection toa plurality of brokers over the computer network, allowing a client toexecute securities transactions, through the broker connection, forsecurities portfolios identified by the database.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising receivingportfolio information for a securities portfolio from a client, storingthe portfolio information for the securities portfolio in the database.19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprisingrequesting risk information for a client for a portfolio identified bythe database, and establishing a benchmark for the portfolio based onthe risk information.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 11,wherein managing a securities portfolio further comprises providing arisk ranking for the securities portfolio based on the comparison of theportfolio information with the benchmark for the securities portfolio.21. A computer readable storage medium encoded with processinginstructions for directing a computer to: provide access over a computernetwork to a database maintaining portfolio information for a pluralityof securities portfolios, and manage a securities portfolio identifiedby the database for a client by requesting portfolio information for thesecurities portfolio from the database, comparing the portfolioinformation to a benchmark for the securities portfolio, and proposesecurities transactions to the client based at least in part on thecomparison of the securities portfolio to the benchmark portfolio. 22.The computer readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprisingprocessing instructions for directing a computer to collect securityrankings for a security from a plurality of security analysts, andaggregate the security rankings for the security onto a uniform rankingscale.
 23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein theaggregating the security rankings includes processing instructions fordirecting a computer to normalize the security rankings to a set ofinteger values.
 24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 21,further comprising processing instructions for directing a computer tocollect security rankings for a plurality of security from a pluralityof security analysts, aggregate the security rankings for each securityonto a uniform ranking scale to provide a uniform ranking of thesecurities, propose securities transactions to the client based at leastin part on the uniform ranking of the securities.
 25. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the portfolio informationmaintained by the database includes tax lot information.
 26. Thecomputer readable storage medium of claim 25, further comprisingprocessing instructions for directing a computer to request tax lotinformation from the database for the portfolio, and propose securitiestransactions to the client based at least in part on the tax lotinformation for the securities portfolio.
 27. The computer readablestorage medium of claim 21, further comprising processing instructionsfor directing a computer to provide a broker connection to a pluralityof brokers over the computer network, allow a client to executesecurities transactions, through the broker connection, for portfoliosidentified by the database.
 28. The computer readable storage medium ofclaim 21, further comprising processing instructions for directing acomputer to receive portfolio information for a securities portfoliofrom a client, store the portfolio information for the securitiesportfolio in the database.
 29. The computer readable storage medium ofclaim 21, further comprising processing instructions for directing acomputer to request risk information for a client for a portfolioidentified by the database, and establish a benchmark for the portfoliobased on the risk information.
 30. The computer readable storage mediumof claim 21, wherein managing an investment portfolio further comprisesproviding a risk ranking for the securities portfolio based on thecomparison of the portfolio information with the benchmark for thesecurities portfolio.
 31. A graphical user interface for a computernetwork based system for implementing an investment advice service, theinvestment advice service being accessible via client computers to aplurality of clients, the graphical user interface comprising: asecurities portfolio display displaying portfolio information for asecurities portfolio maintained by the investment advice service, thesecurities portfolio display illustrating a comparison between theportfolio information and a benchmark portfolio for the securitiesportfolio, and a proposed transaction display displaying a proposedtransaction recommended by the investment advice service based at leastin part on the comparison between the portfolio information and thebenchmark portfolio.
 32. The graphical user interface of claim 31,wherein the securities portfolio display is in the form of a table. 33.The graphical user interface of claim 31, wherein the securitiesportfolio display is in the form of a graph.
 34. The graphical userinterface of claim 31, further comprising a portfolio analysis displayfor displaying an analysis of the comparison of the portfolioinformation for the securities portfolio to the benchmark portfolio. 35.The graphical user interface of claim 34, wherein the portfolio analysisdisplay displays a risk rating, a value at risk, and an alpha for thesecurities portfolio.
 36. The graphical user interface of claim 31,further comprising a proposed transaction input control whereby a clientcan input proposed transactions concerning a securities portfoliomaintained by the investment advice service, wherein the proposedtransaction display displays the effect of the transaction on thesecurities portfolio.
 37. The graphical user interface of claim 36,further comprising a execute transaction input control whereby a clientcan instruct a broker to execute a transaction concerning a securitiesportfolio maintained by the investment advice service.
 38. The graphicaluser interface of claim 31, wherein the proposed transaction displaydisplays a list of securities based on a uniform ranking of securities,wherein the investment advice service collects and aggregates securityratings from analysts to provide the uniform ranking of securities. 39.A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the signal comprisingprogram code for implementing a graphical user interface for a computernetwork based system for implementing an investment advice servicecomprising: a securities portfolio display displaying portfolioinformation for a securities portfolio maintained by the investmentadvice service, the securities portfolio display illustrating acomparison between the portfolio information and a benchmark portfoliofor the securities portfolio, and a proposed transaction displaydisplaying a proposed transaction recommended by the investment adviceservice based at least in part on the comparison between the portfolioinformation and the benchmark portfolio.
 40. A memory for storing datafor access by an application program being executed on a data processingsystem, comprising a data structure stored in the memory, the datastructure comprising a holding table, the holding table comprising astock table for storing information on individual stocks; an industrytable associated with the stock table for storing information regardingindustry membership; a sector table associated with the industry tablefor storing information on sectors; and a sector covariance tableassociated with the sector table for storing sector covariance values.41. A system for providing investment advice from a server to a user'sclient computer comprising: a database component associated with aserver computer having an interface for communicating over a computernetwork, the database component operative to maintain a databaseidentifying a portfolio and operative to maintain a database ofportfolio information associated with the investment portfolio and tomaintain benchmark information associated with the investment portfolio;and a trade advisor component associated with a server computer havingan interface for communicating over a computer network and operative toreceive from a user's client computer an advice request associated withan investment portfolio, to receive portfolio information associatedwith the investment portfolio from the database component, to receivebenchmark information associated with the investment portfolio from thedatabase component, and to provide advice to a user's client computerbased at least in part on the advice request, on the portfolioinformation, and on the benchmark portfolio information.
 42. The systemof claim 41, wherein the database component and the trade advisor areassociated with the same server.
 43. The system of claim 41, wherein thedatabase component and the trade advisor are associated with differentservers.
 44. A system for providing investment advice regarding aninvestment portfolio to a user's client computer, the system comprising:database means for maintaining a database of portfolio informationassociated with an investment portfolio; and trade advisor means coupledto the database means, said trade advisor means for receiving an advicerequest regarding an investment portfolio from a user's client computer,for receiving portfolio information associated with the investmentportfolio from the database means, and for providing traderecommendations based at least in part on the portfolio informationassociated with the investment portfolio.
 45. The system of claim 45,wherein the database means further comprises benchmark database meansfor maintaining benchmark information associated with an investmentportfolio, and wherein trade advisor means receives benchmarkinformation associated with the investment portfolio from the databasemeans and provides trade recommendations based at least in part onbenchmark information associated with the investment portfolio.
 46. Acomputer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the computer datasignal being transferred between an investment advice server and auser's client computer, the computer data signal comprising: portfolioinformation associated with a user's investment portfolio; benchmarkinformation associated with the user's investment portfolio;instructions for a client's browser to display: a first visual displayincluding a mechanism for receiving at least one input from the user; asecond visual display depicting an output, the output based at least inpart on the portfolio information and on the benchmark information; andinstructions for the client's browser to transmit to an investmentadvice server an updated value for at least one input upon receipt of atleast one input from the user.
 47. The computer data signal of claim 46,wherein the first visual display is a trade station display forreceiving at least one trade request.
 48. The computer data signal ofclaim 46, wherein the second visual display is a holdings display fordepicting the relationship of the portfolio to the benchmark.
 49. Thecomputer data signal of claim 46, wherein the carrier wave furthercomprises portfolio recommendation for the user's investment portfolio;instructions for the client's browser to display a portfoliorecommendations display, the portfolio recommendations based at least inpart on the portfolio information and the benchmark information.
 50. Thecomputer data signal of claim 46, wherein the carrier wave furthercomprises: risk ranking information; value at risk information; stockrating information; and. instructions for the client's browser todisplay an analysis display including a current and a projected riskranking, value at risk, and stock rating.
 51. A system for implementingan investment advice service, the system comprising: a server computerhosting an investment advice service accessible via client computers toa plurality of clients; and a database operably coupled to the servercomputer, the database identifying a plurality of securities portfoliosand maintaining portfolio information associated with the securityportfolios; the investment advice service including a user interfacecomprising controls whereby a client can access portfolio informationconcerning a securities portfolio identified by the database, theinvestment advice service being available via a computer network toassist a client in managing a securities portfolio identified by thedatabase, the investment advice service including a trade advisorcomponent hosted by the server computer and operatively coupled to thedatabase to receive portfolio information for a securities portfolio ofthe client, the trade advisor component proposing securitiestransactions based on a combined ranking of a return ranking and a riskranking for each tradable security available to the client, the returnranking being based on an aggregation of securities rankings from one ormore analysts for each tradable security, the risk ranking being basedon a normalized marginal contribution to risk for each security that isscaled by the risk aversion of the olient.
 52. The system of claim 51,wherein the portfolio information maintained by the database includestax lot information for the securities included in the portfoliosidentified by the database.
 53. The system of claim 52, wherein thecombined ranking is further based on a tax rating for security in theportfolio, the tax ranking for each security being based on a normalizedand scaled marginal tax gain or marginal tax loss resulting from thesale of the security as a percentage of the current price of thesecurity.
 54. The system of claim 51, wherein the user interfaceincludes a client proposed transaction input control whereby a clientcan input a proposed transaction for a portfolio identified by theinvestment advice service.
 55. The system of claim 54, wherein the tradeadvisor component is operative to evaluate the proposed transaction ofthe client by generating a combined ranking of a return ranking and arisk ranking for the proposed transaction.
 56. The system of claim 54,wherein the trade advisor component is operative to propose alternativetransactions to the proposed transaction of the client based on thecombined ranking for the proposed transaction.